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World

Germany and the fuss over the ‘idiot’s apostrophe’

12 October 2024

6:00 PM

12 October 2024

6:00 PM

‘Now it’s official,’ the German press lamented, ‘the idiot’s apostrophe is correct.’ The Council for German Orthography, the body that regulates German spelling and grammar, has relaxed the rules on when and how apostrophes can be used to show possession. What seems like a matter for grammar pedants has fuelled angst for the very future of the German language.

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