Introduction

A retired journalist who founded a campaign to preserve the correct use of the apostrophe in the English language, is giving up his battle.?It's because he says "ignorance has won". We discuss what's causing the decline in the use of this punctuation mark and teach you some vocabulary along the way.

This week's question

The word ‘a(chǎn)postrophe’ itself – which language does it come from? Is it:

a) Latin

b) Greek

c) Arabic

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Transcript

Note: This is not a word for word transcript??

Georgina

Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Georgina.

Rob

And I'm Rob.

Georgina

Are you a punctuation?pedant? Do you get upset, annoyed or angry if you see punctuation being used incorrectly – particularly apostrophes?

Rob

Well, it depends. Usually I’m pretty chilled out about it, but sometimes, just sometimes it really winds me up. For example, if I see a sign for taxis at a train station and it says taxi – apostrophe - s – aargh! Why – why? The apostrophe is not used to show there is more than one, it’s used to show there is a missing letter or that the word is a possessive – it’s just wrong! So that does kind of make my blood boil.

Georgina

So, when you say you’re pretty chilled about it you mean…

Rob

OK, I’m not chilled at all. But maybe I wish I were.

Georgina

Well, we’re going to be taking a look at reactions to the use and abuse of apostrophes in this programme. But first, a question. The word ‘a(chǎn)postrophe’ itself – which language does it come from? Is it:

A: Latin

B: Greek

C: Arabic

What do you think, Rob?

Rob

I don’t think it’s Arabic, so it’s a toss-up between Latin and Greek. I’m going to say Greek.

Georgina

OK. We’ll see if you’re correct at the end of the programme. The apostrophe, it is true to say, is often misused. It’s put where it shouldn’t be and not used where it should be. Is it important, though? Does it matter? After all, in spoken English there is no difference between ‘it’s’ with an apostrophe and ‘its’ without. ‘Your’ and ‘you’re’ – short for ‘you are’ sound the same. So what’s the problem in written English?

Rob

In many cases there isn’t a problem at all. There would be very little confusion. But I don’t think that means we should just ignore the correct way to use them. Sometimes it can be very important to make clear if it’s a singular or plural or possessive. Another important thing to remember is that in CVs and job applications a good standard of spelling and punctuation is expected. Get it wrong and you could miss out on a good opportunity.

Georgina

There is one group that has tried for nearly 20 years to keep others to these high standards - The Apostrophe Protection Society. They have publicly pointed out incorrect use in public signs and communications – a tactic that has not always been welcome or successful. But like the apostrophe itself, the group is in danger. Here’s a BBC news report on the subject.

Duncan Kennedy, BBC reporter

They?linger?above our letters, they wander around the endings of our words, but apostrophes, it seems, are an endangered species. The Apostrophe Protection Society – yes there really is one – says their future is, well,?up in the air.

Georgina

How does he describe apostrophes?

Rob

Using metaphorical, poetic language, he says they?linger?above our letters. To?linger?is a verb usually used to describe someone or something staying somewhere before finally leaving.

Georgina

So, we have apostrophes?lingering?above our letters and also he said they?wanderaround the ending of words.

Rob

Yes, also a metaphorical use. To?wander?means to walk slowly around without any real purpose or urgency.

Georgina

And he went on to say that the future of the apostrophe is?up in the air. When something is?up in the air, it means its future is not certain, it’s not guaranteed. So if, for example, your holiday plans are?up in the air, it means that there is some kind of problem and you might not be going on holiday after all. The person who founded The Apostrophe Protection Society is John Edwards. Now 96 years old he has decided to give it up. Partly because of his age, but also because he thinks that due to the impact of texting and social media he has lost the battle against bad punctuation. So why has it come to this? Here he is explaining why he thinks people aren’t bothered about using correct punctuation.

John Edwards

I think it’s a mixture of?ignorance?and laziness. They’re too ignorant to know where it goes, they’re too lazy to learn so they just don’t bother. The?barbarians?have won.

Georgina

So what’s his reason?

Rob

He blames?ignorance?and laziness.?Ignorance?is a lack of knowledge or understanding of something. So people don’t know the rules and are too lazy to learn them, according to Edwards.

Georgina

Quite strong views there!

Rob

Yes, and you thought I was a?pedant! He actually goes further to say that the?barbarianshave won.?Barbarian?is a historical word for people who weren’t part of so-called civilized society. They were seen as violent and aggressive, primitive and uncivilized.

Georgina

So it’s not a compliment then?

Rob

Oh no!

Georgina

Right, before we review today’s vocabulary, let’s have the answer to today’s quiz. Which language does the word apostrophe come from? What did you say?

Rob

I went for Greek.

Georgina

Congratulations to you and anyone else who got that right. Greek is the right answer. Now let’s remind ourselves of today’s vocabulary. First, what’s a?pedant,?Rob?

Rob

A?pedant?is someone who corrects other people’s small mistakes – particularly in grammar and punctuation – but it’s not the same as an English teacher! A?pedant?will correct native speakers’ mistakes too, and not in the classroom.

Georgina

To?linger?means to stay somewhere for longer.

Rob

To?wander?is to walk around without a real purpose or intention to get somewhere quickly.

Georgina

If your plans are?up in the air, it means they are at risk and might not happen.

RobIgnorance?is the state of not knowing something that should be known.

Georgina

And finally, a?barbarian?is a word for a primitive and uncivilized person. Right, we can’t linger in this studio as our six minutes are up. You can find more from us about punctuation and many other aspects of English online, on social media and on the BBC Learning English app. Bye for now.

Rob

Bye!

Vocabulary

a pedant

Someone overly concerned with correcting small mistakes

to linger

to stay in a place longer

to wander

to walk around with no real purpose or desire to get somewhere quickly

up in the air

at risk, possibly not going to happen

ignorance

a lack of knowledge about something

a barbarian

a primitive and uncivilized person

雙語版Transcript

Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Georgina.

大家好，這里是六分鐘英語，我是喬治娜。

And I'm Rob.

我是羅伯。

Are you a punctuation pedant?

你是個標點符號學者嗎？

Do you get upset, annoyed or angry if you see punctuation being used incorrectly – particularly apostrophes?

如果你看到標點符號使用不正確——尤其是撇號，你會感到煩惱、心煩或生氣嗎？

Well, it depends.

這得視情況而定。

Usually I'm pretty chilled out about it,?but sometimes, just sometimes it really winds me up.

通常我對此都很冷靜，但有時，只是有時真的讓我很氣惱。

For example, if I see a sign for taxis at a train station and it says taxi – apostrophe - s – aargh!

例如，如果我在火車站看到一個出租車的標志，上面寫著出租車——撇號——s，??！

Why – why?

為什么，為什么？

The apostrophe is not used to show there is more than one,?it's used to show there is a missing letter or that the word is apossessive,?it's just wrong!

撇號不是用來表示不止一個，它是用來表示省略一個字母或者那個詞是一個所有格，出租車的那種用法是錯誤的！

So that does kind of make my blood boil.

所以那確實會讓我很生氣。

So, when you say you're pretty chilled about it you mean…?OK, OK, I'm not chilled at all.

所以，當你說你很冷靜的時候，你的意思是……好吧，好吧，我一點都不冷靜。

But maybe I wish I were.

但或許我希望我是冷靜的。

Well, we're going to be taking a look at reactions to the use and abuse of apostrophes in this programme.

好吧，我們將在本期節(jié)目中看看人們對撇號使用和濫用的反應。

But first, a question.

但首先有一個問題。

The word 'apostrophe' itself – which language does it come from?

撇號這個詞本身是來自哪種語言？

Is it: A: Latin, B: Greek, or C: Arabic?

是A：拉丁語，B：希臘語，還是C：阿拉伯語？

What do you think, Rob?

你覺得呢，羅伯？

Well.

好吧。

I don't think it's Arabic,?so it's a toss-up between Latin and Greek.

我認為它不是阿拉伯語，所以在拉丁語和希臘語之間很難選擇。

I'm going to say Greek.

我選希臘語。

OK.

好的。

We'll see if you're correct at the end of the programme.

我們將在節(jié)目最后看看你是否回答正確。

The apostrophe, it is true to say, is often misused.

事實上撇號經(jīng)常被誤用。

It's put where it shouldn't be and not used where it should be.

它被放在不該放的地方，也沒有被用在該用的地方。

Is it important, though? Does it matter?

然而這重要嗎？有關系嗎？

After all, in spoken English there is no difference between 'it's' with an apostrophe and 'its' without.

畢竟，在英語口語中，有撇號的"it‘s"和沒有撇號的"its"是沒區(qū)別的。

'Your' and 'you're' – short for 'you are' sound the same.

"Your"和"you’re"——"youare"的縮寫聽起來是一樣的。

So what's the problem in written English?

那么書面英語有什么問題呢？

In many cases there isn't a problem at all.

在很多情況下根本不存在問題。

There would be very little confusion.

極少會混亂。

But I don't think that means we should just ignore the correct way to use them.

但我不認為那意味著我們要忽視正確的使用方法。

Sometimes it can be very important to make clear if it's a singular or plural or possessive.

有時候弄清楚它是單數(shù)、復數(shù)還是所有格非常重要。

Another important thing to remember is that in CVs and job applications a good standard of spelling and punctuation is expected.

另一件要記住的重要事情是，在簡歷和工作申請中，高標準的拼寫和標點是必要的。

Get it wrong and you could miss out on a good opportunity.

弄錯了，你可能會錯失良機。

There is one group that has tried for nearly 20 years to keep others to these high standards - The Apostrophe Protection Society.

近20年來有一個組織一直在努力讓其他人遵守這些高標準——撇號保護協(xié)會。

They have publicly pointed out incorrect use in public signs and communications?– a tactic that has not always been welcome or successful.

他們已經(jīng)公開指出公共標識和交流中對撇號的不正確使用——這種策略并不總是受到歡迎或取得成功。

But like the apostrophe itself, the group is in danger.

但就像撇號本身一樣，這個群體也處于危險之中。

Here's a BBC news report on the subject.

這是BBC關于這個話題的新聞報道。

They linger above our letters,?they wander around the endings of our words,?but apostrophes, it seems, are an endangered species.

它們停留在字母之上，徘徊在單詞末尾，但撇號似乎是一種瀕臨滅絕的物種。

The Apostrophe Protection Society, yes there really is one, says their future is, well, up in the air.

撇號保護協(xié)會，是的，確實有這么一個協(xié)會，說撇號的未來懸而未決。

How does he describe apostrophes?

他是如何描述撇號的？

Using metaphorical, poetic language,?he says they linger above our letters.

用隱喻性、富有詩意的語言，他說它們停留在字母之上。

To?linger?is a verbusually used to describe someone or something staying somewhere before finally leaving.

停留是一個動詞，通常用來描述某人或某物在最后離開之前待在某地。

So, we have apostrophes lingering above our letters and also he said they wander around the ending of words.?Yes, also a metaphorical use.

所以，撇號停留在字母之上，而且他說它們徘徊在單詞末尾。是的，也是一種隱喻用法。

To?wander?means towalk slowly around without any real purpose or urgency.

徘徊是指在沒有任何真實目的或迫切性的情況下慢慢四處走動。

And he went on to say that the future of the apostrophe is up inthe air.

他繼續(xù)說到撇號的未來是懸而未決的。

When something is?up in the air, it means its future is not certain, it's not guaranteed.

當某事懸而未決時，那指的是它的未來不確定，沒有保證。

So if, for example, your holiday plans are up in theair,?it means that there is some kind of problem and you might not be going on holiday after all.

所以，例如，如果你的假期計劃懸而未決，那意味著有某種問題，你可能根本不會去度假。

The person who founded The Apostrophe Protection Society is John Edwards.

創(chuàng)建撇號保護協(xié)會的人是約翰·愛德華茲。

Now 96 years old he has decided to give it up.

現(xiàn)在96歲的他決定放棄。

Partly because of his age,?but also because he thinks that due to the impact of texting and social media,?he has lost the battle against bad punctuation.

部分是因為他的年齡，但也是因為他覺得由于短信和社交媒體的影響，他已經(jīng)輸?shù)袅伺c錯誤標點符號的戰(zhàn)斗。

So why has it come to this?

所以為什么會這樣呢？

Here he is explaining why he thinks people aren't bothered about using correct punctuation.

在這里，他解釋了為什么他認為人們不在意正確使用標點符號這件事。

I think it's a mixture of ignorance and laziness.

我認為這是無知和懶惰一起的結果。

They're too ignorant to know where it goes,?they're too lazy to learn,?so they just don't bother.

他們太無知，不知道把撇號放在哪里，他們懶得去學，所以他們就是不在意而已。

The barbarians have won.

野蠻人贏了。

So what's his reason?

那么他的理由是什么？

He blames ignorance and laziness.

他歸咎于無知和懶惰。

Ignorance?is a lack of knowledge or understanding of something.

無知是對某事缺乏知識或認識。

So people don't know the rules and are too lazy to learn them, according to Edwards.

所以據(jù)愛德華茲所說，人們不知道這些規(guī)則，也懶得去學。

Quite strong views there!

非常強烈的觀點！

Yes, and you thought I was a pedant!

是的，你還認為我是個學究！

He actually goes further to say that the barbarians have won.

他實際上更進一步說是野蠻人贏了。

Barbarian?is a historical word for people who weren't part of so-called civilized society.

野蠻人是一個歷史詞匯，所指的是那些不屬于所謂文明社會的人。

They were seen as violent and aggressive, primitive and uncivilized.

他們被認為是暴力的、好斗的、原始的、未開化的。

So it's not a compliment then?

所以它不是夸贊？

Oh no!

噢，不是！

Right, before we review today's vocabulary,?let's have the answer to today's quiz.

好的，在我們復習今天的詞匯之前，讓我們揭曉今天測驗問題的答案。

Which language does the word apostrophe come from?

撇號這個詞來自哪種語言？

What did you say?

你說是什么？

I went for Greek.

我選的是希臘語。

Congratulations to you and anyone else who got that right.

恭喜你以及其他做對的人。

Greek is the right answer.

希臘語是正確答案。

Now let's remind ourselves of today's vocabulary.

現(xiàn)在讓我們回顧一下今天的詞匯。

First, what's a pedant, Rob?

首先，什么是學究，羅伯？

A?pedant?is someone who corrects other people's small mistakes,?particularly in grammar andpunctuation,?but it's not the same as an English teacher!

學究就是糾正別人小錯誤的人，尤其是語法和標點符號方面，但和英語老師不一樣！

A pedant will correct native speakers' mistakes too, and not in the classroom.

學究也會糾正母語使用者的錯誤，而且并不是在課堂上。

To?linger?means to stay somewhere for longer.

停留的意思是在某個地方待更長時間。

To?wander?is to walkaround without a real purpose or intention to get somewhere quickly.

徘徊是在沒有快速到達某地的真實目的或意圖的情況下四處走動。

If your plans are?up inthe air,?it means they are at risk and might not happen.

如果你的計劃懸而未決，這意味著它們有風險，可能不會發(fā)生。

Ignorance?is the state of not knowing something that should be known.

無知是不知道某事的狀態(tài)，而它應該被知道。

And finally, a?barbarian?is a word for a primitive and uncivilized person.

最后，野蠻人是指原始未開化的人。

Right, we can't linger in this studio as our six minutes are up.

好的，我們不能在這個演播室逗留了，因為我們的六分鐘已經(jīng)結束了。

You can find more from us about punctuation and many other aspects of English online, on social media and on the BBC Learning English app.

你可以在網(wǎng)上、社交媒體和BBC英語教學應用程序上找到更多我們關于標點符號和英語其他方面的內(nèi)容。

Bye for now.

再見了。

Byebye!