Apostrophe Is Out of Control in Minnesota!!
 

Don't think I saw this posted, if so, apologies. Apparently, the apostrophe is bedeviling the poor University of Minnesota! Story attached:

Apostrophe riles Minnesotans

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Apostrophe boosters were in mourning at the
University of Minnesota after it was decided to name a fancy new
walkway the Scholars Walk, not the Scholar's Walk.
"I'm terribly disappointed," said Larry Laukka, who leads the group
developing the $4.5 million walkway. "I'll have to lick my wounds. But
I'll get over it."

For weeks, the issue has bedeviled those at the university and beyond
who care a great deal about such things. English professors, e-mailers
from across the United States and even the Apostrophe Protection
Society of England offered advice.

Laukka argued to board members of the nonprofit University Gateway
Corp. that an apostrophe would add distinction by suggesting it is
owned by those it honors.

That argument didn't work. The board voted 4-1 against the punctuation
mark.

The board worried that the apostrophe would make the four-block
walkway appear exclusive at a time the university wants to be
inclusive. It might even mean adding apostrophes to Regents Professors
Square and a Professors Lane.

"Apostrophes would be out of control!" said board member Margaret Carlson.

:spock:

WTF is going on here?

This is an abomination.

What does the abomination snow man have to do with this?

We must arm ourselves and march on Minnesota.

I demand an explanation of why this organization isn't called England's Apostrophe Protection Society.

That's an abomination.

I bet if Rich Scanlon argued for the apostrophe, the board would have voted for it!

Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh Yeah the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

He do the song about the sweet lovin' woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life

Here comes Johnny and he'll tell you the story
Hand me down my walkin' shoes
Here comes Johnny with the power and the glory
Backbeat the talkin' blues
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh Yeah the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

He do the song about the sweet lovin' woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life

Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh Yeah the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

And after all the violence and double talk
There's just a song in all the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, you do the walk of life

I have found out at college, some people are just stupid and they like to gripe about the dumbest shit possible.

"Scholars Walk"


I see a bit of humerous irony there.

:)

Anyone from the Apostrophe Protection Society of England would have a fatal meltdown if they ever visited Tennessee....I think the apostrophe is the state bird down here.

If they named it the Scholar's Walk, would that mean that only one scholar at a time could use it? I think that both of their options are wrong, and it should be the Scholars' Walk.

The answer is easy to see.

The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.

I told him no no no.......

Dinny

Dear Mister Language Person: What is the purpose of the apostrophe?

Answer: The apostrophe is used mainly in hand-lettered small business signs
to alert the reader than an "S" is coming up at the end of a word, as in:
WE DO NOT EXCEPT PERSONAL CHECK'S, or: NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ITEM'S.
Another important grammar concept to bear in mind when creating hand- lettered
small-business signs is that you should put quotation marks around random
words for decoration, as in "TRY" OUR HOT DOG'S, or even TRY "OUR" HOT DOG'S.
-- Dave Barry, "Tips for Writer's"