Friday 8 October 2010

The difference an apostrophe makes


It's surprising the difference an apostrophe makes. When I saw this copy of Metro on the train yesterday I instinctively thought, "Oh no. Are Bob Crow and his union cronies about to step up their industrial dispute with TfL and declare jihad on London commuters?" It's the sort of headline The Sun might run. But then I saw the apostrophe and the meaning changed completely. In fact, the story is about an individual driver who left his family and planned to travel to Pakistan (via the Bakerloo Line, perhaps) and join the Taliban.

Call me a pedant? Some might; but actually grammar can be fun...Well I think so. Thinking about this amused me for the rest of the day - at least while I wasn't concentrating on the more serious matters of our diocesan clergy study day.