The linguist in me just loves articles like this. Be sure to read the comments to the previous article as well, I got many a good laugh reading the discussion going back and forth in defence of the English spelling. And don’t miss the reference to Finnish – although the thing about not having any spelling tests in Finland is not true (unless they’ve changed the education system since the 70’s and 80’s when I went to school).
My pet peeve with the apostrophe is that many people use the acute accent instead of the real apostrophe (Nit-picking? Oh absolutely, guilty as charged!). It makes a big difference – just compare it´s and it’s. In my eyes that extra space around the acute accent is a disruption to the natural flow of the language, it feels like a hiccup. In the English and Swedish and many other Western keyboard layouts, the apostrophe is even easier to reach than the accent. So why reach for the accent at all when the real thing is much closer?
P.S. In my defence, I’ve spent 6 years of my life studying languages at university and even a small mistake in spelling was a make or break deal. You have no idea how many times I proof-read these blog entries before I post them…! The word you’re looking for is ”pilkunviilaus”.
P.P.S. No I don’t grade anyone else’s spellings. I was a student, not a teacher!