Mondays ain’t so bad.

Every Monday our local newspaper prints a syndicated column, “Below the Beltway,” by Gene Weingarten. He is provocative and funny – a delight to read.

Today’s column lists once highly valued things that have depreciated so much that they’re almost worthless. Examples include Mel Gibson’s film career, BP stock, and…(#8 on the list) apostrophes.

More precisely, he says, “the skill of using apostrophe’s.” He goes on to note, “Nobody get’s it right anymore, and nobody gives a darn, and thats just the way it is.”

Okay, gang: He made three deliberate apostrophe errors. Can you find them? Answers below.

I salute you, Gene. There are two of us left who still care about apostrophes!

[ANSWERS: Delete the apostrophe from apostrophes and gets. Insert an apostrophe into that’s.]

This website offers many resources to help you learn apostrophes: A PowerPoint about placing apostrophes, a handout, and a practice exercise with answers and explanations.