 John C. Wells, emeritus professor of phonetics at University College London, says the apostrophe is "a waste of time".The Apostrophe Protection Society, founded by retired journalist John Richards in 2001, was brought to a full stop in 2019, Richards (then aged 96) accepting that "the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won!”.The over-use of apostrophes in names in fantasy literature was satirised by Neal Stephenson in "Reamde".