Part of my job at work is to review other people's work. Lately at work, but also online, in print media, and on TV, I have seen a plethora of acronyms made plural using an apostrophe and an s. So much so that I was starting to question my memory of what is correct! I grabbed our copy of the Microsoft Manual of Style, our bible on the job, and reviewed possessives and plurals as they relate to acronyms.
It says that acronyms are made plural by simply adding an s on the end, unless one of the abbreviated words is a plural form already-- then you don't add an s.
Correct
SUVs
CPUs
RBI (Runs Batted in-- run is already a plural)
Incorrect
SUV's
CPU's
RsBI or RBIs
This is also true of numbers.
Correct
1950s
486s
The only time you add an apostrophe to form a plural is when using a single letter. However, in addition to the apostrophe and s, the root letter should be in italics (but nothing else). Although the manual doesn't say it, I believe this is so that it doesn't look like you are forming a new acronym ( i.e., "x's" lets you see that x is the root letter, while "xs," even with the italicized root letter, tends to look like an acronym involving two words, one started with an x and the other starting with an s).
Correct
x's
Form the possessive by adding apostrophe and an s unless the word ends in an s already; then, you simply add the apostrophe. When forming possessives of an acronym, you should only use the possessive when the abbreviation refers to a person ( i.e., CEO) or generically to an organization (i.e., OEM). You should avoid using possessives, by the way, for company, product, or feature names.
Correct
The CEO's desk
The OEM's products (possessive of a generic organization)
The OEMs' products (plural and possessive of a generic organization)
The Windows interface
Microsoft products and technologies
The Search field entry
Incorrect
The CPU's L2 cache (not a person or generic organization-- use of construction instead; The L2 cache of the CPU)
The SUV's wheelbase
Windows' interface (product name)
Microsoft's products and technologies (company name)
the Search field's entry (specific feature)
Now, I let myself slack on many rules and formalities while writing personal emails and this blog, as I am not being paid to do either and the repercussions for errors are relatively low. I know, for example, that I have used "CPU's" in the past to add possession to an acronym that didn't warrant it.
It is nice that what I knew to be correct is, in fact, still the correct way to write. However, I am still left with the thought: Why am I seeing this particular mistake so much right now?
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It has become very pervasive. Today, while reading my local dirtrag of a newspaper, I saw a headline in which appeared the word "ask's". I can't think of a single circumstance in which that would be considered correct, as "ask" would never be in the form of a possessive.
ReplyDeleteI find it quite ironic that your reference is the Microsoft Manual of Style. I frequently find that Microsoft spell check suggestions incorrectly suggest using an apostrophe when it is not appropriate. Some users are apparently too lazy or too stupid to evaluate this choice, and thus think that "spell check must be right."
This problem is beginning to worry me a great deal. Will we eventually see this become an acceptable alternate usage? I sincerely hope not, as we should not all have to stoop down to the dumbest level.
I can understand how "RBIs" would be used -- at least there is some logic behind it. RBI is treated like a word itself, so I can understand why the s is added on, even if it is incorrect. What I don't understand is "RBI's." This is very clearly (at least, to me) incorrect.
I will confess that I am not as picky about using apostrophes when speaking of a company or product, rather than a person. If people could get it right as though the item were a person, at least that would be improvement. At least that would mean they were using their brain to reason between right and wrong.
This situation, I'm afraid, is only going to get worse. Grammar is not taught in schools anymore, and it's not something that kids pick up on their own. Without being forced to learn it, use of proper grammar is going to keep on sliding downhill. A very sad state of affairs.
We don't have to be grammatically correct 100% of the time, such as when we talk to friends or blog. Formal documentation such as manuals or advertising, however, have an obligation to be grammatically correct. These items are on display to the general public, and make an organization look stupid when there is a glaring error in their print media.
I don't write nearly as much as you do John, but I always enjoy little refreshers like this.
ReplyDeleteI know that I use possessives in conjunction with objects sometimes. I'll try to be more careful about that!