A few weeks ago, UK-based Waterstone’s Booksellers did something shocking: they dropped their apostrophe, claiming that there is no use for the tiny little mark in the digital age. More accurately, their managing director stated that “Waterstones” is just straight-up more versatile when it comes to a world full of html code, URLs, and email addresses. You may also have noticed that some of your favorite online websites fail to italicize, and instead use double quotes around things like book and movie title – also a product of the collision between punctuation and digital media.

WEIGH IN:

Plenty has been said about the effects of texting and email on spelling and vocabulary, but where does punctuation stand in the 21st century? What should be preserved, what should stay, and how do we make the decisions – or are they already in process?

Guests:

Lane Greene, founder and blogger for Johnson, the Economist’s language blog; Economist business correspondent; author, “You Are What You Speak”

John Richards, founder and Chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, based in the UK