Why do we still have so many apostrophes in English?

[Boliviabae]

It takes so much longer to type anything on the phone.

Apostrophe's were originally in place to show two words shortened into one. But the shortened versions of the words have been in the English langauge for so long now, why do we need the apostrophes.

The word 'Dont' for example, is easily understandable, without an apostrophe.

Yes, it really does matter.

I don't know whether "Really?" refers to the number of errors I counted or my assertion that no-one had jumped on you, but at the point you posted that comment the thread was still jump-free.

Also, what is a "thread pet"?

Exactly, so it should always be 10 items or fewer in the supermarket. And it never is.

You do see that another poster said that she made mistakes because she was using a mobile phone....

And I'm laughing at how serious your post is.

"No excuse" "No excuse for typos!". You are like a military commander. So bizarre.

The next time someone sends you a text message with a typo, I hope that you reply to them :

"NO EXCUSE FOR TYPOS"

Are you always that serious?

No at the point I posted the comment, the thread wasn't jump-free.

You obviously still haven'read the thread.

Go back and read. It is very easy to do.

Maybe there should be more?

I see a lot more added where they're not needed than missed out. Maybe the true evolution of language will naturally head towards using more of them.

We could just pop them into words randomly...

No it really doesn't.

Most people don't care in the slightest, which is why the word "less" is used so often.

Yes, it should.

Wow. Did you mean to be so rude?

I don't think so. Many of those sentences make sense without a comma.

You are only supposed to use a comma when you have two independent clauses, or when you have a list of items.

Who are you talking to? Clarify.

I’m a lost cause and when handwriting, use an apostrophe for missing letters.

eg. 'Phone, as it’s shortened from telephone(Is this called an apostrophe?).

I think you know. Daft hill to die on, OP.

No, you were saying you think it is ridiculous to expect people's grammar and punctuation to be perfect on a mobile phone.

I don’t expect anyone’s grammar or punctuation to be perfect, especially when using a mobile, but I don’t see what that has to do with you wanting to change the English language just because it’s inconvenient when using a mobile phone.

I rarely ‘pick up’ on peoples’ spelling and grammar but you were attempting to promote a change but not showing how you wanted the change(s) to be implemented.

It’s been pointed out that the use of apostrophes changes the meaning of words and sentences, and that other languages use apostrophes and other punctuation marks, but you still seem to be fixated on the inconvenience for you when using a mobile phone.

Languages evolve but not due to the inconvenience for some users.

No I didn't know as you didn't specify.

I am not "dying on any hill". That's a very serious turn of phrase.

I wrote a post on a chat forum

So easy, in fact, that you apparently can't even manage to proofread your own post.

At the point you posted, people had expressed their disagreement with your argument, but no-one had criticised the grammar or punctuation of your OP.

Probably not, but when you learn the correct usage, it becomes one of those annoying little irritants when you see it written incorrectly.

I do want to crack out some of those early Chalet School books, where people say sha'n't! rudely.

I sha'n't stop using apostrophes either!

No you wouldn't put an apostrophe before phone.

It's up to you, OP.

Don't use apostrophes. Don't use question marks. Entirely your choice.

But then don't complain when others assume your literacy levels are poor.

Just for the minute let's just say following your rationale, we get rid of apostrophes. What next? Because there are lots of parts of the English language that are equally superfluous. It's possible to get rid of multiple elements while still being able to figure out the meaning. Vowels? There's a very well-known test that removes vowels, and it's surprisingly still easy to read. Get rid of them? Move to SMS-style speech?

Where does that line get drawn? And who decides?

Or we could just keep our language intact. It works and the meaning is clear. There is no ambiguity. There are times when an apostrophe is helpful in determining which version of the word is being used - such as "its" and "it's".

So with that in mind, in your world are we keeping some apostrophes, but just not all? I mean, that's one way to make the language even more difficult for those who already struggle.....

Apostrophes are way more complex than you seem to realise, and perform multiple functions within a text. Getting rid of them as someone "can't be bothered" to use them - despite using extra ones incorrectly - seems to be a pretty thin reason.

As others have said, other languages include additional elements that are used rarely in English. Maybe they should drop those too? You could lead a worldwide campaign OP.

But I do! Same for 'flu, short for influenza (but usually only handwriting).

No way. They reduce ambiguity, they indicate possession, they clarify meaning in contraction, they help us track how language has evolved over history by showing where letters have been omitted. And in a very practical sense, computers aren’t great at guessing context. Humans might be able to but automated systems like text-to-speech, search engines, and AI assistants rely on punctuation to understand meaning.

Other languages don’t contain as many as they don’t contract words in the same way as English does and there is no ambiguity. But actually, if you want to go there, English has the most versatile use but French uses them to a higher frequency – so bang goes that theory.

Long live the apostrophe.

That is completely incorrect.

They had!

I find it mad that you are making up abosolute shit.

Anyone can go back and read the thread and see that I am right, not you.

And clearly you're an expert on all things grammatical and syntactical.

To be fair, I know someone who does. He is 82 though!