Re: The Smart Swedes Build PCs

In article <1179356358.900814.136320@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Edwin <thorne25@xxxxxxxx> wrote:


Jolly Roger:

"The apostrophe has three uses:

1) to form possessives of nouns
2) to show the omission of letters
3) to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters.

Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals,
including acronyms.":

Edwin:

Your information is limited. Time for you to read and learn:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=499296

Reading there will show you it's not as simplistic as your site makes
it out.

"The formation of plurals and possessives is usually pretty
straightforward, except in the case of abbreviations and acronyms. The
following rules should help."

It's not straightforward in the case of acronyms, so I'm hardly a
"fool" even if I got it wrong.

"To form the plural of an abbreviation, a number, or a capital letter
used as a noun, simply add an 's' to the end."

"- A group of MPs
- The late 1940s
- Mind your Ps and Qs "

Exactly. No apostrophe on abbreviations on upper-case letters. Just
like Jolly Roger said.

"To form the plural of an abbreviation with periods, a lowercase
letter
used as a noun, and abbreviations or capital letters that would be
ambiguous or confusing if the 's' alone were added, use an apostrophe
and an 's'."

"- A group of M.P.'s

Apostrophe added due to the period.

- The x's in the equation

Apostrophe added due to lowercase letter, as per Jolly Rogers list
above.

- Sending SOS's" "

Apostrophe added due to uppercase abbreviation ending in "S".

"The only time we accept an 's is when the acronym is separated with
periods. For example, Ph.D.'s.""

I.e. not when it is not separated with periods, such as "MB" or "HD".

So there are times when an apostrphe s is added to an acronym,
whatever you or Jim have to say about it notwithstanding.

Sure, but none of the times apply to your usage, unfortunately.


--
Sandman[.net]
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Apostrophes in abbreviated plurals
    ... > The rule, when there is a rule, specifies the apostrophe for the ... > plurals of letters, words and numbers *as* letters, words and ... version without the apostrophe and hope for the best. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: The Smart Swedes Build PCs
    ... to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters. ... Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, ... except in the case of abbreviations and acronyms. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: The Smart Swedes Build PCs
    ... to indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters. ... Apostrophes are NOT used for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals, ... except in the case of abbreviations and acronyms. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: problems with apostrophes?
    ... What letter or letters does the first apostrophe represent? ... nearly all cases the apostrophe stands for one or more missing letters. ... German) so unusually it has dropped out of the spelling too. ...
    (alt.usage.english)
  • Re: When (if ever) is it acceptable to use " s " as a plural?
    ... reading "You can get your holiday money here. ... OK, obviously the apostrophe isn't appropriate there, but is it ... standard practice has changed over the past ... It used to be standard to pluralise letters, figures, and ...
    (alt.usage.english)
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