Roger Hicks
Veteran
Disputable. Why, then, isn't it R'F'F's? I'm neutral myself, as I think that regardless of grammatical theory, the comma after an abbreviation looks better visually and makes it easier to read, but among those who care, the balance is probably against the apostrophe.
REAL pedants will dispute the use of the possessive, preferring "the use of the possessive" to "the possessive's use" except (as far as I recall) when referring to people or (possibly) legal entities.
Then again, with a surname that ends in 's' (correct possessive "Roger Hicks's camera") I am accustomed to "Roger Hicks' camera" and even "Roger Hick's camera".
Cheers,
R.
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sreed2006
Well-known
Muphry's Law strikes again: any Internet posting intended to correct another's spelling or grammar error will itself contain an error.
jwnash1
Well-known
"You don't use apostrophe's to plauralise [sic] anything." According to the Purdue Online Writing Lab, you use an apostrophe "to form plurals of letters that appear in lowercase; here the rule appears to be more typographical than grammatical, e.g. "three ps" versus "three p's." To form the plural of a lowercase letter, place 's after the letter."
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/
pggunn
gregor
I think you're right about the balance being against the apostrophe, Roger. I began doubting myself as soon as I posted and couldn't find anything in the AP Stylebook or other references to support my belief, but I'm also with you in having the opinion that it looks better visually.
Oh, the shame! My mother was an English teacher! :bang:
Bobbo
Well-known
Have you ever read "The Grammar Sharp" by W.C. Brann? I'm pretty sure you'd approve of it (I do). It's on Google Books.
iandiam
Member
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Surely, all that mean's is that the Purdue Online Writing Lab use's apostrophe's that way. I happen to think they're right, but I don't think they're a significantly greater authority than most people.
Cheer's,
R.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
To be fair, thi's wa's naively put in the "Provide your Feedback" forum. Little did he know it wa's a slow night.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
So was mine. And so was I. there's nothing wrong with a minority opinion. I think you and I will be proven right in the next generation of style books.
Cheer's,
R.
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sreed2006
Well-known
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Or possibly just apostrophe's.
Dear S'id,
Pos's'ibly. Are you any relation of the S'ufi S'ids? Great theologian's.
Cheer's,
R.
sreed2006
Well-known
Roger, I've been called lots of things, but never a S'ufi.
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Dear S'id,
S'orry; I was jus't being s'illy. Perhaps its as well to s'top here.
Note careful balance in 'its'.
Cheers,
R.
raid
Dad Photographer
This is correct, the apostrophe usage is wrong.
It is however not apostrophe's
It is however not apostrophe's
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tjh
Well-known
Except for pluralizing individual lowercase letters, an apostrophe shouldn't be used to pluralize - no "camera's", "horse's", or "bumblebee's", no matter how beautiful the typography seems. After the apostrophe, one of the most glaring mistakes in English language usage on the Internet is the confusion between "advice" and "advise". I advise forum members to follow the advice on this forum, especially about capitalizing after a semicolon.
This is the most protracted discussion of English grammar I've had since high school, many, many decades ago. Aspirin anyone?
This is the most protracted discussion of English grammar I've had since high school, many, many decades ago. Aspirin anyone?
Shac
Well-known
LOL!! Moi aussi
sepiareverb
genius and moron
Americans of a certain age cannot use punctuation properly because it was not taught to us.
How do you know the intent was not to use the apostrophe to signify Possessive?
120 RF's Forum
120 RF's Forum
Roger Hicks
Veteran
Yes, but the American language doesn't distinguish between practise (verb) and practice (noun), or tyre and tire, or kerb and curb, so maybe it's just evolution. And WHY can't Americans spell "mediaeval"? Or indeed, pronounce it? As "meddi-evil", not "muh-deeval". Why do they omit the 'i' in "fertile" or "missile", which in English are are pronounced the way they spelled, "fur-tile" and "miss-isle", not "furtle" and "missal" (the latter, of course, a perfectly good word for a holy song-book)?
For that matter, what happened to the 'l' in "vulnerable" in English? When did it become 'vunnerable'? And why have the English such a taking against "gotten", denouncing it as a vile Americanism, when it has merely fallen into desuetude in its mother land, and the American usage is perfectly clear; more traditional; and (arguably) allows a more subtle distinction of meaning?
It's all evolution, except where it's divergence and the evolution of dialects (as in the separation of Spanish and Portuguese -- "a language is a dialect with armed forces.") I quite like diversity, but I also get a bit pissed off with both Americans and English people who fail to acknowledge that the two languages do not have common rules and usages (which I have done myself above, but at least I have the original spelling on my side).
Cheers,
R.