The British bookstore chain Waterstone's has decided the apostrophe in its name is too much trouble.
According to the Telegraph newspaper, the chain's managing director says, “Waterstones without an apostrophe is, in a digital world of URLs and email addresses, a more versatile and practical spelling."
The story says that not only is the move a "slight" to bookstore founder Tim Waterstone, but that punctuation watchdogs disapprove:
John Richards, the chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society said: "It's just plain wrong. It's grammatically incorrect. If Sainsbury's and McDonald's can get it right, then why can't Waterstones. You would really hope that a bookshop is the last place to be so slapdash with English."
Thank heavens we can brag that our local bookstores have correctly punctuated names (although Pudd'nhead Books is certainly tricky). Even Macy's (macys.com) still proudly keeps the apostrophe, even if some of its logos make it look like a star.
