The use of apostrophes to make plurals is a pet peeve of this grammar buff. An apostrophe is almost never correct to make the plural of a numeral. It can be used to make the plural of a lowercase letter. It is done only to show that the plural of the letter is not a word, such as "Dot your i's and cross your t's." Without the apostrophe, "i's" would be the word, "is." From that single exception, an entire culture of bad grammar has grown which uses the apostrophe for plurals.

My peeve is it's for its.

Love when I see it on a website for public schools.

[deadwolfbones]

The use of apostrophes to make plurals is a pet peeve of this grammar buff. An apostrophe is almost never correct to make the plural of a numeral. It can be used to make the plural of a lowercase letter. It is done only to show that the plural of the letter is not a word, such as "Dot your i's and cross your t's." Without the apostrophe, "i's" would be the word, "is." From that single exception, an entire culture of bad grammar has grown which uses the apostrophe for plurals.

Yeah, I hate it too, but some in the industry seem to accept it in the same spirit as "i's."



(I don't get why they don't just write "thousands" and avoid the issue altogether.)

[GeneV]

Yeah, I hate it too, but some in the industry seem to accept it in the same spirit as "i's."



(I don't get why they don't just write "thousands" and avoid the issue altogether.)

I agree about writing it out, but the texting culture now loves numerals. Again, there is an exception that is becoming a rule. It started with using "0's" for "zeros." The apostrophe kept the zero from looking like an "o" followed by an "s." There is no such reason to use an apostrophe for 1000s, therefore, it is incorrect in most style books.

This is probably too much grammar discussion, but what do you expect from a lawyer married to an editor?

---------- Post added 04-06-2010 at 08:37 AM ----------

My peeve is it's for its.

Love when I see it on a website for public schools.

I agree, but that one almost makes sense, because leaving off that apostrophe for a possessive is an exception for that pronoun.

[deadwolfbones]

This is probably too much grammar discussion, but what do you expect from a lawyer married to an editor?

Hey, I love this stuff. I'm an editor at an international real estate magazine for a day job, and I write for a camera site as my sideline, in addition to my music blog.

[GeneV]

Hey, I love this stuff. I'm an editor at an international real estate magazine for a day job, and I write for a camera site as my sideline, in addition to my music blog.

It's great to find a good writing job these days. My wife edits corporate communications--everything from newsletters to manuals and publications for clients. She also can't seem to get enough. She keeps taking on editing and layout projects for our leisure activities for which I often end up doing the photography.

[Rupert]

It's great to find a good writing job these days. My wife edits corporate communications--everything from newsletters to manuals and publications for clients. She also can't seem to get enough. She keeps taking on editing and layout projects for our leisure activities for which I often end up doing the photography.

I write poems for my Squirrels......of course, I am just a plumber, so they don't expect much in the way of grammar or puctuation, as long as each poem comes with a few peanuts.
Regards!

It's great to find a good writing job these days. My wife edits corporate communications--everything from newsletters to manuals and publications for clients. She also can't seem to get enough. She keeps taking on editing and layout projects for our leisure activities for which I often end up doing the photography.

After working all day doing graphic design/typesetting that's the last thing I want to do at home. For our print broker work I hire someone to do it for me.

[cardinal43]

My favorite sentence starters are:

"I mean"
"Like"

Don't worry, some day you will grow up and not speak "like" a "valley girl".

[Green Chile]

Commander and THEIF!!!
Teabonics on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Ha ha ha ha. This is my favorite.

[Rupert]

Don't worry, some day you will grow up and not speak "like" a "valley girl".

I knew a few "Valley Girls" long ago.......they were like.....well, Valley Girls! Heads full of air, but some pretty nice exteriors. After the first one, I never tried another round for fear of being accused of necrophilia..... "Is it over yet?" Oh yeah! It's over!
Regards!

[Green Chile]

By the way I teach Journalism and see this stuff all day long. It's like purgatory. Some of the least-functioning—in terms of literacy—are also some of the farthest to the right. There's nothing like eight years of home-schooling in front of Fox News to warp a person.

By the way I teach Journalism and see this stuff all day long. It's like purgatory. Some of the least-functioning—in terms of literacy—are also some of the farthest to the left. There's nothing like eight years of public school revisionist history in front of Communist News Network drinking the Kool-Aid to warp a person.

Post fixed to reflect accuracy

[Green Chile]

Repeat a lie often enough in a forum and it becomes a fact in the public's eyes.

[deadwolfbones]

Post fixed to reflect accuracy

Revisionist history like removing Thomas Jefferson from the Texas school curriculum?

Exactly what sort of revisionism are you talking about?

(And please don't trot out your old favorite about how Democrats were all KKK members. Anyone with the feeblest grasp on history knows that today's Democratic party is not the same entity that existed in the early part of the 20th Century. It's like blaming contemporary Germans for Nazism.)

[Parallax]

By the way I teach Journalism .........

Journalism no longer exists. There are those who go in front of a camera or computer and sensationalize, and editorialize, but journalism, as in "who, what when, where, and why" no longer exists.
The "journalists" of today also have to tell you why they think it happened, how they feel about it, how you should feel about it, what should be done about it...............