apostrofly
n.— «There is no guarantee that the apostrophe will appear in the right place in Queens’ College, Cambridge. The apostrophe, it sometimes seems, is like an insect—an apostrofly—over the dining table, alighting where it will. If either name, Queen’s or Queens,” appears in the corrections column a dozen readers will accuse me of having an Oxbridge fixation.» —“Open door—It’s in its rightful place—The readers’ editor on …the plague of the apostrofly” by Ian Mayes Guardian (U.K.) Sept. 30, 2002. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Advice about college essays from the winner of a top prize for children’s literature: Kelly Barnhill encourages teens to write about experiences that are uniquely their own, from a point of view that is theirs and no one else’s. Plus, why do we say...
While compiling the Oxford English Dictionary, lexicographer James Murray exchanged hundreds of letters a week with authors, advisors, and volunteer researchers. A new collection online lets you eavesdrop on discussions about which words should be...