"Why bother with apostrophes at all? As far as I am concerned they are a waste of time. Why not just drop it all together? That is not being sloppy just practical if no-one can agree."


1. They cl;arify meaning when used correctly.

2. "No-one can agree" doesn't actually make sense.

However, I'd point out that it isn't that there is no agreement [which is what "no-one can agree" seems to imply]. It's that there is disagreement among two or more groups. Within those groups, they agree; it's the the groups that disagree.

That situation obtains pretty well in every field.

We don't usually decide to abandon standards, practices, theories simply because we cannot get universal agreement. At best, like here, we discuss it.

Otherwise, perhaps could someone name one single area where there is universal agreement.