Wedding Woes

grammar queens

When one writes of more than one DVD, how do you write it?
How about more than one letter L?

Re: grammar queens

  • TheDuckisTheDuckis member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    DVDs
    Ls

    But if it's more than one A, it's A's.
  • baconsmombaconsmom member
    5 Love Its First Answer First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    NO APOSTROPHES. That drives me crazy.

    DVDs, Ls. Though if you want more delineation for, say, single letters, something like: all my letter "l"s come out looking really weird.


    image
  • MrsMyrtleMrsMyrtle member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    WRONG, DUCKIS.

    Psh.

    DVDies
    image
  • AuntFloAuntFlo member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_grammar-queens?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:1c95b42b-2311-4d13-8b54-bc3059e653b9Post:02e65819-66a2-4450-a614-0bb91ca18f13">Re: grammar queens</a>:
    [QUOTE]<strong>But if it's more than one A, it's A's.</strong>
    Posted by TheDuckis[/QUOTE]

    Why is this?
  • AuntFloAuntFlo member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Comment Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    OK - this is pretty much what I thought, but several of my highly educated and intelligent customers and coworkers have been doing it so often I thought I was wrong.   Because, you know, I don't have a degree and I'm just an assistant.

    all my letter "l"s come out looking really weird.

    This was almost the exact context of my question about ls.  Bmom, have you been reading my email?
  • baconsmombaconsmom member
    5 Love Its First Answer First Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    I'm psychic. :D
    image
  • TheDuckisTheDuckis member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Because "As" is a word, so the apostrophe diferentiates. Same with "I's."
    There's arguement about this, and some people (like baconsmom) insist that you never ever ever ever use apostrophes for plurals. But the point of grammar and punctuation is to make things as clear as possible, and I think "A's" is clearer than "As" and looks a whole lot nicer than ""A"s."
  • TheDuckisTheDuckis member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Name Dropper First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Okay, I researched.

    AP stylebook says apostrophes for all single letters, no apostrophe for multi-letter acronyms, and no apostrophe if you're talking about multiples of a word (too many "ands").

    Lynne Truss (Eats, Shoots and Leaves) says apostrophes for single letters and multiples of a word, no apostrophe for acronyms or numbers.

    Strunk and White doesn't mention it, which I assume means they want you to follow the regular rules for nouns, which would be no apostrophes for plurals ever.

    But my go-to book, Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies, says everyone has different rules, so use the one that fits your style and your audience.

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards