A relaxation of official rules around the correct use of apostrophes in German has not only irritated grammar sticklers but triggered existential fears around the pervasive influence of English.

More fodder for punctuation nerds: I’m intrigued to learn from a recent Guardian article that the Council for German Orthography (YAY!) has made a concession to a growing trend.

For establishments that feature their owners’ names, German does not traditionally use apostrophes to indicate the genitive (Barbaras Rhabarberbar!); but signs  like “Rosi’s Bar” or “Kati’s Kiosk” have become common. Popularly known as Deppenapostroph (idiot’s apostrophe”), this is

not to be confused with the English greengrocer’s apostrophe, when an apostrophe before an ‘s’ is mistakenly used to form the plural of a noun (“a kilo of potato’s”).

—my own favourite being OBO’S for aubergines.

The article points out that the trend isn’t necessarily a mere kowtow to the encroachment of English: the Council has long approved the apostrophe for the sake of clarity, such as “Andrea’s Bar” to make clear that the owner is called Andrea and not Andreas. But it has sparked a pedants’ revolt [possibly pedant’s revolt? Generic singular à la greengrocer’s apostrophe and idiot’s apostrophe? Aargh], bemoaning the “victory march of English”.

Cf. The rise and fall of the semicolon.