Earlier in the year we reported on how Cambridge city council in the UK had decided not to use apostrophes in street signs and how examiners for Cambridge Assessment (the ones who do all the TEFL exams) had supported this idea.

It was, of course, ridiculous of them to do so.

You see, the idea that an examining board could condone bad English in some situations but mark students down for it in another is blatantly absurd.

And many others disagreed with the Cambridge councilors and the examiners and demanded that good English should be used and the apostrophes returned to the streets. So much so that groups were formed and grammatically inclined vigilantes took to the streets and used marker pens to add apostrophes to errant signs.

Finally Cambridge council have seen sense and they have stated that they will now bring back the apostrophes to where they belong. They admit there was no good reason to leave them out and it was all a bit stupid to do so.

So presumably Cambridge Assessment will do a quick 180 and support the idea now to remove the egg from their face.

Useful Links

Missing Apostrophes Don’t Worry Cambridge Examiners – the original ICAL TEFL article

Council reverses its ban on apostrophes – more on this story from the Guardian Newspaper