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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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When I either an acronym or an abbreviation and I make it plural or past tense, I tend to use an apostrophe between the main word and the suffix, like this:
discontinue --> D/C
discontinued --> D/C'd
Volkswagen --> VW
Volkswagens --> VW's
sport utility vehicle --> SUV
sport utility vehicles --> SUV's
sport utility vehicle drivers --> morons (DOH!)
Does anyone else do this?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Here are a few local favorites. P's - parents P'd - pissed off  Dis'd - disrespected (I know, nice try) B/O'd - back ordered P/O'd - Ordered (with a purchase order) PC'd - Changed/Converted from Mac to PC
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Alex, you are keeping busy this month, aren't you, Sweetie?
I assume you meant write acronyms and abbreviations.
Yes, I do. We've had some discussion about this before,
but darned if I can find it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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tsuwm - That thread dosen't seem to approach the issue of past tense ("'d") although it hardly makes sense to substitute a single letter even though it happens often enough ( pronounciation specific "can't"). I came back to edit my post for the one "'s" I did include (for I agree that without "'" makes most sense) and it just won't prompt the reader to pronounce the "P" as seperate (I expect something like "piz" will be vocalized). Am I to write "Pees" to insure this (which means a new word not an acronym or an abbreviation (yart?)? Jackie - I do write these (the last three, anyway) in reports that are internal, and "P's" in personal letters all the time... ("ya gotta" start somewhere)... hopefully a mystery for three generations from now attempting to figure out what "P's" are... 
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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The general rule I have read, which makes sense to me and I use in my published materials, is that the apostrophe should not be used unless necessary to clarify meaning. Example: multiple A = A's rather than As, but multiple PC = PCs.
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addict
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addict
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I'm with shanks. I loathe apostrophes used to make a plural, even in acronyms. They are just the thin end of the shim...
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Carpal Tunnel
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apostrophes...They are just the thin end of the shim...
Interesting. We say "the thin edge of the wedge" same meaning. More euphonious ? A shim is commonly used by carpenters here it being a small piece of wood or metal to align something usually. A wedge is a big metal object tapering to sharp, thin edge used in splitting logs. Comments?
wow
P.S. One common misuse of apostrophes here in US is Veteran's Day for the correct Veterans Day . Drives me nuts!
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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...They are just the thin end of the shim...
I smiled as I read this - I assumed it was tongue-in-cheek. "Thin end of the wedge" is the common expression I am familiar with. Like wow's carpentry example, for me (mechanical engineering/machinery applications) a shim is a thin piece of metal used to adjust something to a critical position or size. A shim is usually VERY thin and uniform thickness, so the "thin end of the shim" is a nonsense.
[edited in later]... I've just done what I should have done before my post - looked up a dictionary. M-W has shim as:
a thin often tapered piece of material (as wood, metal, or stone) used to fill in space between things (as for support, leveling, or adjustment of fit)
Hmm, so it's not nonsensical or tongue-in-cheek as I thought.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hmmm. So was it Valentine's day OR Valentines day? In French we say "la Saint Valentin" (yes, there is no e on the end) so it refers to that one specific person from which the day originated. Is this also true in English, or does it refer to the people celebrating the day?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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...the apostrophe should not be used unless necessary to clarify meaning. Example: multiple A = A's rather than As, but multiple PC = PCs.
I'm with Sparteye. Excellent concise rule. Occam's Willie would be proud.
----
And Bel, it is Saint Valentine's Day.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Bridget may want to wring my neck for it, but alas I do use an apostrophe at the end of a plural acronym. Of course I know better than to do it otherwise. Now what really vexes me is when you see a sign posted in a store that reads:
THERE WILL BE A $15 SERVICE FEE FOR "ALL" RETURNED CHECKS
Even worse, I saw one that read "There is a $15 charge for 'EACH' returned checks." I had to go home and take an aspirin for that one.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Bel, it is Saint Valentine's Day...even though [pedant-cap-emoticon] there were two of them! - so should be Valentines' Day  I had to go home and take an aspirin for that oneSo that's what passed tense does for you, huh?
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