http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html Links and visuals illustrating an orthographic pet peeve. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:33:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3805 John L. Fritz' Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:58:03 +0000 http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3805 Think of it this way: absent the apostrophe, the final word would read "CEOS." I agree a better solution would be a punctuated abbreviation, or even just a lower case "s," but I think this area of usage allows (or should allow) some flexibility in the interest of intelligibilty. (I am now praying that my comment does not contain more grammar/punctuation/syntax/spelling errors than the original post.) Think of it this way: absent the apostrophe, the final word would read "CEOS." I agree a better solution would be a punctuated abbreviation, or even just a lower case "s," but I think this area of usage allows (or should allow) some flexibility in the interest of intelligibilty. (I am now praying that my comment does not contain more grammar/punctuation/syntax/spelling errors than the original post.)

]]> http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3708 The Monster Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:41:02 +0000 http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3708 Fran, most references I've seen call for the apostrophe in forming the plural of a <b>single</b> letter used as a word (Mind your p's and q's, and you may get straight A's!), of an abbreviation that includes periods (Jail greedy C.E.O.'s!) or if the singular form of the abbreviation ends in an s, making the plural ambiguous. Even in the latter case, I think "GPSes" makes more sense than "GPS's". Fran, most references I've seen call for the apostrophe in forming the plural of a single letter used as a word (Mind your p's and q's, and you may get straight A's!), of an abbreviation that includes periods (Jail greedy C.E.O.'s!) or if the singular form of the abbreviation ends in an s, making the plural ambiguous. Even in the latter case, I think "GPSes" makes more sense than "GPS's".

]]> http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3707 Fran Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:32:37 +0000 http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3707 The NY Times Manual of Style and Usage (and numerous other sources) prefers this use of the apostrophe in the plural. The NY Times Manual of Style and Usage (and numerous other sources) prefers this use of the apostrophe in the plural.

]]> http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3706 Melissa Yeuxdoux Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:08:28 +0000 http://www.apostropheabuse.com/2009/06/jail-greedy-ceos.html#comment-3706 Maybe the writer is a native speaker of Turkish, where they have versions of "I" with and without a dot? Maybe the writer is a native speaker of Turkish, where they have versions of "I" with and without a dot?

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