THE apostrophe has been added to the list of endangered species in the UK.
Sightings of the punctuation mark in the wild have become increasingly rare, with experts worried that widespread abuse has caused a precipitous collapse in numbers.
Professor Henry Brubaker of the Institute for Studies said: “The natural habitat of the apostrophe – letters, books, even decently crafted emails – has all but disappeared.
“Razed by the internet and social media on which apostrophes are rarely employed, this formerly plentiful symbol now only survives in captivity on English teachers’ whiteboards.
“We should never have criticised greengrocers for letting their apostrophes run so wild. At least they loved them.”
Meanwhile red flags have also been raised over the status of the comma, a once-common piece of punctuation that is increasingly being seen as redundant by anyone writing an angry Facebook status about fake bitches.
Experts confirmed, however, that exclamation marks are running rampant with sightings in larger and larger herds across the internet.
