This was sent to us due to the apostrophe catastrophe:
1977: The British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic said to consist of several semicolon-shaped islands located in the Indian Ocean. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica.
The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Only a few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades
Showing posts with label punctuation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label punctuation. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
Apostrophe on apostrophe
20 year old typo causes bureaucratic diversions
Every year I prepare the legal filings of our Annual General Meeting. This includes Form 11, which details any changes to our bylaws.
In October, the GSS passed several bylaw changes and I dutifully submitted them using the reuired Form 11. Following the procedure requested by the registrar in past years, I simply attached a copy of the new bylaws and sent them in with a note on the form asking them to replace the old bylaws with the new.
Today I received notice the bylaw changes are being "held on file" until I correct them because, as noted in the comments, "Name must be exactly as registered: Student's Society".
Apparently our founding board couldn't use an apostrophe correctly (what would Lynne Truss say?) and the GSS founding documents thus list us as the University of Victoria Graduate Student's Society. Or perhaps there really was only one graduate student back in the 80s when we were incorporated as a society.
Perhaps I should file a complaint about the GSS on this blog. It seems we are doomed to a legally required error... what is a person to do when government demands you maintain a typo to keep your bylaws legal? Perhaps call a special AGM simply to remove the errant punctuation? (Imagine the debate...it would rival the infamous Ince/Pollock semicolon battle of March 20;06!).
So there you have it, dear imaginary reader, my apostrophe on the errant apostrophe and the resulting form filing catastrophe.
Every year I prepare the legal filings of our Annual General Meeting. This includes Form 11, which details any changes to our bylaws.
In October, the GSS passed several bylaw changes and I dutifully submitted them using the reuired Form 11. Following the procedure requested by the registrar in past years, I simply attached a copy of the new bylaws and sent them in with a note on the form asking them to replace the old bylaws with the new.
Today I received notice the bylaw changes are being "held on file" until I correct them because, as noted in the comments, "Name must be exactly as registered: Student's Society".
Apparently our founding board couldn't use an apostrophe correctly (what would Lynne Truss say?) and the GSS founding documents thus list us as the University of Victoria Graduate Student's Society. Or perhaps there really was only one graduate student back in the 80s when we were incorporated as a society.
Perhaps I should file a complaint about the GSS on this blog. It seems we are doomed to a legally required error... what is a person to do when government demands you maintain a typo to keep your bylaws legal? Perhaps call a special AGM simply to remove the errant punctuation? (Imagine the debate...it would rival the infamous Ince/Pollock semicolon battle of March 20;06!).
So there you have it, dear imaginary reader, my apostrophe on the errant apostrophe and the resulting form filing catastrophe.
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