Why is the apostrophe so often over-used and used erroneously? It's meant to abbreviate words (for example: "I am" becomes "I'm" and "could not" becomes "couldn't"), and to signify possession (for example: "Susan's elbow hurts" or "My father's opinion"). I've just read a version of a pun I've always liked, but it read "Give Pea's a Chance". I think people sometimes use an apostrophe because they feel weird about pluralizing a word that ends in a vowel - or a zero. I mention zero because another popular misuse of the apostrophe is used in reference to decades (for example: "the 60's"). Once again, apostrophes (note I didn't use an apostrophe to pluralize "apostrophes") have two purposes (not including in names like O'Leary, etc.). One purpose is to replace letters which are removed when abbreviating two words, and the other is to denote ownership. Peacelove, Aldousage
But....you also use apostrophes to pluralize words that end in s' right? For instance....ummm....oh wait no...I'm thinking of when you have something that ends in s and needs ownership or something like "the octupus' hat".... nevermind...
