Punctuation appears to be declining in importance. In the
UK, the Cambridge City Council considered removing punctuation from street
names recently, in an effort to follow national guidelines aimed at
simplification; it had been observed that wrongly punctuated street names would
cause confusion and that data services, including emergency services, did not
care about punctuation (“Apostrophe
Catastrophe as Cambridge City Council Bans Punctuation from New Street Names”).
After protests, the Council reversed its decision to ban punctuation, however;
in February, The Guardian reported that the Cambridge City Council leader had
regretted following “bureaucratic guidelines” to remove punctuation from street
signs (“Council
Reverses its Ban on Apostrophes”). In the previous year, the Mid Devon
council had faced similar opposition:
The move was branded “appalling,
disgusting and pointless”, with one critic saying the absence of the marks made
her “shudder”.
Some even suggested that it could
represent a creeping threat that might even result in the endangerment of those
grammatical stalwarts, the comma and the capital letter. (“Council
Accused of 'Murdering' Punctuation Mark After Abolishing Apostrophes from
Street Names“)
On the other side of the Atlantic, punctuation has also
provoked controversy, but Slate magazine
has reported that for Professor John McWhorter, the loss of the comma is inconsequential;
commas may become obsolete because their removal causes “little loss of clarity”
(besides the fact that they are used inconsistently – as in the Oxford comma):
We needn’t look any further than
our beloved cellphones and computer screens. We’re dropping commas more than
ever because so much of our daily writing now consists of quick text messages
and hastily typed emails. We’re also engaging in frequent IM discussions and
drafting lots of sub-140-character tweets. Commas don’t thrive in those
environs. (“Will
We Use Commas in the Future?”)
McWhorter adds, however, that formal writing, including
academic writing, probably will not be affected as people will know what is
appropriate for different contexts, especially older students and others; young
students may struggle slightly, but they will eventually get the hang of it.
The debate continues on both sides of the Atlantic. Among
the groups involved are The American Apostrophe Association, the Apostrophe
Protection Society and the AAAA (Association for the Annihilation of the
Aberrant Apostrophe).
National Punctuation
Day, started in the US in 2004 to celebrate the correct use of punctuation,
reflects its continuing importance for some – so take care with your punctuation!
