 Over the years, the use of apostrophes has been criticised.George Bernard Shaw called them "uncouth bacilli", referring to the apostrophe-like shape of many bacteria.The author and language commentator Anu Garg, in a humorous but well-argued discussion, has called for the abolition of the apostrophe, stating "Some day this world would be free of metastatic cancers, narcissistic con men, and the apostrophe."