The apostrophe is being attacked by progressive grammarians. Harry Mount defends it

I WON’T hear a word against Piers Morgan, ever since it emerged that he’s a brave apostrophe-defender.

On Radio 5 Live recently, I defended the apostrophe alongside him. Putting the argument on the other side was Oliver Kamm, author of the Pedant column in The Times.

Kamm later said in his column that “language wouldn’t break down if we abolished the apostrophe overnight”.  He’s right – it wouldn’t. But it would be a lot less clear – and that would be a sad thing.

As the title of Kamm’s column suggests, grammar sticklers can veer towards pedantry. And I agree with Kamm that pedantry can be boring – and, sometimes, stand in the way of good, flowing English. Like Kamm, I happily split infinitives and end sentences with prepositions.

But there is a huge, vital difference between stiff pedantry and knowing the rules of grammar and punctuation in order to produce lovely, clear English that a reader can understand.

The opponents of grammar love to say that the rules of English change – which they do. But that isn’t a reason for not knowing the rules at any one time. Some opponents – not Kamm, to be fair – also put forward the argument that grammar is an élitist structure inflicted by a pompous ruling class on the soulful masses to rein in their natural, charming, free and easy English.

It’s a wicked, patronising argument, with appalling consequences. As a tutor and former university teacher, I have seen naturally bright children who are hamstrung by that attitude. Because they’ve never been taught grammar, they simply can’t write the sort of clear English that another person can understand. The whole point of writing – to express the thoughts in your head to another human being on paper or screen – is lost.

The consequences aren’t just practical – in terms of being able to write successful job applications, for example. They also damage the soul. How tragic for naturally bright people not to know the great joy of writing good, clear English – of being able to express their thoughts to a friend, a girlfriend, a child or the delightful aunt who gave you such a charming Christmas present.

Grammar and punctuation really aren’t that difficult – that’s why children learnt it so easily in the days when proper teaching was prized. So why deprive anyone of its joys and infinite uses?

ENDS

Harry Mount is running a punctuation masterclass at the Idler Academy in August.

Harry also runs the Idler Academy’s online punctuation course. Read more here.