Sir – Tony Augardes article about apostrophe’s (Limited Edition, September) was disappointing. He merely recycled the peeves of people who have learnt the mad ‘rules’, and want to feel superior to others who havent. Can he think of a plausible sentence in which hell (meaning ‘he will’) might be confused with hell (the mythical place of torment)? Does he advocate wind’ (an old watch, for example) to distinguish this wind from the wind that blows? The former used to be spelt windan. Likewise, if hell (meaning ‘he will’) is too difficult, we should spell Reading Reading’, because it was once Readingum. ‘Reading doesnt excite teenagers’, without the apostrophe, should be reserved for the literary activity. ’ is an unnecessary 27th letter in standard English orthography, whose ‘correct’ use is based on the inconsistent whims of printers. Lets abolish it now.

Nicholas Lawrence, Oxford