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  • Georgina: Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Georgina.

  • Rob: And I'm Rob.

  • Georgina: Are you a punctuation pedant?

  • Do you get upset,

  • annoyed or angry if you see punctuation

  • being used incorrectlyparticularly

  • apostrophes?

  • Rob: Well, it depends. Usually I’m pretty

  • chilled out about it, but sometimes, just

  • sometimes it really winds me upfor

  • exampleif I see a sign for taxis at a

  • train station and it says taxiapostrophe - s – aargh!

  • Whywhy? The apostrophe is not used

  • to show there is more than oneit’s used

  • to show there is a missing letter or that

  • the word is a possessiveit’s just wrong!

  • So that does kind of make my blood boil.

  • Georgina: So when you say youre pretty

  • chilled about it you mean

  • Rob: …OK, I’m not chilled at all. But maybe

  • I wish I was.

  • Georgina: Well, were going to be taking a

  • look at reactions to the use and abuse of

  • apostrophes in this programme, but first,

  • a question.

  • The wordapostropheitselfwhich

  • language does it come from? Is it:

  • A: Latin, B: Greek, or C: Arabic

  • What do you think, Rob?

  • Rob: I don’t think it’s Arabic, so it’s a

  • toss-up between Latin and Greek. I’m

  • going to say Greek.

  • Georgina: OK. Well see if youre correct at

  • the end of the programme. The

  • apostrophe, it is true to say, is often

  • misused. It’s put where it shouldn’t be and

  • not used where it should be. Is it

  • important, though? Does it matter? After

  • all, in spoken English there is no

  • difference betweenit’s’ with

  • an apostrophe anditswithout. ‘Your

  • andyoure’ – short foryou are

  • sound the same. So what’s the problem in

  • written English?

  • Rob: In many cases there isn’t a problem

  • at all. There would be very little confusion.

  • But, I don’t think that means we should

  • just ignore the correct way to use them.

  • Sometimes it can be very important to

  • make clear if it’s a singular or plural or

  • possessive. Another important thing to

  • remember is that in CVs and job

  • applications a good standard

  • of spelling and punctuation is expected.

  • Get it wrong and you could miss out on a

  • good opportunity.

  • Georgina: There is one group that has

  • tried for nearly 20 years to keep others to

  • these high standards - The Apostrophe

  • Protection Society. They have publicly

  • pointed out incorrect use in public signs

  • and communications – a tactic

  • that has not always been welcome or

  • successful. But like the apostrophe itself

  • the group is in danger. Here’s a BBC news

  • report on the subject.

  • Duncan Kennedy: They linger above our letters,

  • they wander around the endings of our

  • words, but apostrophes it seems are an

  • endangered species. The Apostrophe

  • Protection Societyyes there really is

  • onesays their future is, well, up in the air.

  • Georgina: How does he describe

  • apostrophes?

  • Rob: Using metaphorical, poetic language.

  • He says they linger above our letters. To

  • linger is a verb usually used to describe

  • someone or something staying somewhere

  • before finally leaving.

  • Georgina: So we have apostrophes

  • lingering above our letters and also he

  • said they wander around the end of the words.

  • Rob: Yes, also a metaphorical use. To

  • wander means to walk slowly around

  • without any real purpose or urgency.

  • Georgina: And he went

  • on to say that the future of the

  • apostrophe is up in the air. When

  • something is up in the air, it

  • means its future is not certain, it’s not

  • guaranteed. So if, for example, your

  • holiday plans are up in the air, it means that

  • there is some kind of problem and you might not

  • be going on holiday after all. The person

  • who founded The Apostrophe Protection

  • Society is John Edwards. Now 96 years

  • old, he has decided to give it up. Partly

  • because of his age, but also because he

  • thinks that due to the impact of texting

  • and social media he has lost the battle

  • against bad punctuation. So why has it

  • come to this? Here he is explaining

  • why he thinks people aren’t bothered

  • about using correct punctuation.

  • John Edwards: I think it’s a mixture of

  • ignorance and laziness. Theyre too

  • ignorant to know where it goes, theyre

  • too lazy to learn so they just don’t bother.

  • The barbarians have won.

  • Georgina: So what’s his reason?

  • Rob: He blames ignorance and laziness.

  • Ignorance is a lack of knowledge or

  • understanding of something. So people

  • don’t know the rules and are too lazy to

  • learn them, according to Edwards.

  • Georgina: Quite strong views there!

  • Rob: Yes, and you thought I was a pedant!

  • He actually goes further to say that the

  • barbarians have won. Barbarian is a

  • historical word for people

  • who weren’t part of so-called civilized

  • society. They were seen as violent and

  • aggressive, primitive and uncivilized.

  • Georgina: So it’s not a compliment then?

  • Rob: Oh no!

  • Georgina: Right, before we review today’s

  • vocabulary, let’s have the answer to

  • today’s quiz. Which language does the

  • word 'apostrophe' come from? What did you say?

  • Rob: I went for Greek

  • Georgina: Congratulations to you and

  • anyone else who got that right. Greek is

  • the right answer. Now let’s remind

  • ourselves of today’s vocabulary. First,

  • what’s a 'pedant', Rob?

  • Rob: A 'pedant' is someone who corrects

  • other people’s small mistakes

  • particularly in grammar and punctuation

  • but it’s not the same

  • as an English teacher! A pedant will

  • correct native speakersmistakes too and

  • not in the classroom.

  • Georgina: 'To linger' means to stay

  • somewhere for longer

  • Rob: 'To wander' is to walk around without

  • a real purpose or intention to get

  • somewhere quickly.

  • Georgina: If your plans are 'up in the air', it

  • means they are at risk and might not

  • happen

  • Rob: 'Ignorance' is the state of not

  • knowing something that should be known

  • Georgina: And finally a 'barbarian' is a

  • word for a primitive and uncivilized

  • person. Right, we can’t linger in this studio

  • as our six minutes are up. You can find

  • more from us about punctuation

  • and many other aspects of English online,

  • on social media and on the BBC Learning

  • English app. Bye for now.

  • Rob: Bye!

Georgina: Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Georgina.

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撇號的衰落:6分鐘英語。 (The decline of the apostrophe: 6 Minute English)

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    林宜悉 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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