Today, 15 August, is International Apostrophe Day – a day on which everyone is invited to spare a thought for one of the smallest, hardest-working and most frequently misunderstood punctuation marks in the English language.
2026 also marks the 25th anniversary of the Apostrophe Protection Society, of which I am a proud member. The APS was founded in 2001 by the late journalist and sub-editor John Richards, who had become increasingly concerned about the misuse, and sometimes complete disappearance, of the apostrophe. What began as one man's campaign soon attracted interest and support from around the world.
Of course, we couldn't celebrate International Apostrophe Day without mentioning the most popular part of APS's website: the Rogues' Gallery.
P.S. There also ought to be an Oxford Comma Appreciation Society but, unfortunately, it hasn't got any further than selling overpriced t-shirts - click here. Mind you, that's a lot less than the thirteen million dollars a missing Oxford comma cost an American dairy company - click here. For other grammatical hurdles, I keep this fine range of corrective crockery:
(Unfortunately, there are all left-handed mugs and I'm right-handed.)
