Ex-grammar head blasts Waterstones over name change (From Bucks Free Press)
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Ex-grammar head blasts Waterstones over name change
3:39pm Monday 16th January 2012 in Education By Simon Farr
Ex-grammar head blasts Waterstones over name change
AN ex-grammar school headmaster says a leading bookstore chain’s decision to axe the apostrophe from its name is “absolutely ridiculous”.
Andrew MacTavish, the former head of John Hampden Grammar School, believes Waterstones is setting a bad example by ditching the apostrophe.
Waterstone’s - the last remaining national chain of bookstores – said it has removed the apostrophe to make its name ‘more practical in a digital world’.
But Mr MacTavish scoffed at the reason given by the firm founded by Tim Waterstone and believes the bookstore should be fighting to protect the English language instead of diminishing it.
He said: “It is absolutely ridiculous. Schools are trying to educate children to talk and write correctly, and exam boards are saying they will take marks off if candidates make spelling mistakes.
“Yet all around us we see people and firms making spelling and grammatical mistakes on public notices and signs.
“I can understand and accept people will make errors on simple notices, but how are children supposed to learn when national firms and bookstores, of all things, are setting such a poor example? I find it very sad.”
Comments(17)
Slacker
says...
3:59pm Mon 16 Jan 12
Bill Taxpayer
says...
4:35pm Mon 16 Jan 12
Waterstone's should be setting a better example.
Plus ça change...
says...
6:08pm Mon 16 Jan 12
But if you want to get rid of the apostrophe, logically get rid of the 's' too.
We maintain this archaic practice in Britain that you have to stick an 's' on a company name.
It's a bit quaint.
Come on, 'Waterstone', set an example.
Drop 2 for the price of one!!!
Lawrence Linehan
says...
10:59pm Mon 16 Jan 12
Lawrence Linehan
says...
11:03pm Mon 16 Jan 12
Lawrence Linehan
says...
11:04pm Mon 16 Jan 12
mumbles26
says...
11:52pm Mon 16 Jan 12
acjy1985
says...
9:24am Tue 17 Jan 12
Bill Taxpayer wrote:Or people who write sings instead of signs.
I completely agree with Mr MacTavish. Unfortunately standards are slipping but fewer and few people even notice. The amount of times I see people write 'your welcome' or sings that read 'your on CCTV' just shows the level of ignorance that is around these days. Waterstone's should be setting a better example.
TopCat2000
says...
11:41am Tue 17 Jan 12
I do however think that people's perception of Waterstone's has changed over the years. Yes, it was started by Mr Waterstone, so the "'s" represented his ownership. Nowadays however, most people refer to the chain as a collective of shops, and therefore it can be understandable to not include the "'".
I'm a product of the grammar school system, and don't think that my written English is particularly bad, but I will admit I've always struggled with apostrophes. I don't remember being taught nouns and pronouns, etc. In fact, I remember only learning what a verb was when I started learning languages. Perhaps therefore, some of the blame about the poor language in use around the country can be placed on the education system itself?
washondo
says...
12:25pm Tue 17 Jan 12
tom.marlow2
says...
10:16pm Tue 17 Jan 12
I don't really care - my preferred purveyor of reading matter is named after a river.
Plus ça change...
says...
5:48pm Wed 18 Jan 12
tom.marlow2 wrote:Brahmaputra's?
Well Foyles seem to have dropped their apostrophe but Blackwell's keep it.
I don't really care - my preferred purveyor of reading matter is named after a river.
Yangtze's?
Mississippi's?
Nile's?
Maybe, for some fun, BFreeP can print a whole edition WITHOUT apostrophes.
The readers add in the missing apostrophes and the one who finds most missing apostrophes wins a guided tour of Wycombe's famous buildings with Ivor.
Masked to protect identity of course. The embarrassed, winning reader that is.
Mr MacTavish can do the marking.
Lawrence Linehan
says...
12:02am Thu 19 Jan 12
tom.marlow2 wrote:At last - another user of Irrawaddy.com.
Well Foyles seem to have dropped their apostrophe but Blackwell's keep it.
I don't really care - my preferred purveyor of reading matter is named after a river.
J B Blackett
says...
3:36pm Thu 19 Jan 12
Plus ça change...
says...
11:38am Fri 20 Jan 12
J B Blackett wrote:Before you know it we shall be dedotting the i's and uncrossing the t's.
It's capostrophic !
Plus ça change...
says...
11:38am Fri 20 Jan 12
J B Blackett wrote:Before you know it we shall be dedotting the i's and uncrossing the t's.
It's capostrophic !
Davie Dimple says...
3:57pm Mon 16 Jan 12
The headline "Woman with two vaginas talks about rare condition" really is a new low for this rag.