What is happening with apostrophes?

Question

What is happening to the apostrophe? It seems that in just a few yaer the use of an apostrophe when writing a plural word has increased massively. DVD's in a shop etc. Has anyone researched WHY this is happening?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What is happening to the apostrophe? It seems that in just a few yaer the use of an apostrophe when writing a plural word has increased massively. DVD's in a shop etc. Has anyone researched WHY this is happening?[/nq]
This might be related to a "massive" increase in the use of initialisms in everday life.
I don't know why people are using apostrophes in this way but the effect is to make it clear that the s indicates a plural and is not part of the initialism.

DVD's is pronounced "dee vee dee z" whereas DVDs might be pronounced "dee vee dee ess".
There may be a mixture of copycatting and intuition involved.

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What is happening to the apostrophe? It seems that in ... a shop etc. Has anyone researched WHY this is happening?[/nq]
[nq:1]This might be related to a "massive" increase in the use of initialisms in everday life. I don't know why ... part of the initialism. DVD's is pronounced "dee vee dee z" whereas DVDs might be pronounced "dee vee dee ess".[/nq]
I don't always capitalize all those initialisms, so that leaves me with dvds, which probably means something else.
Isn't the proper plural of 3 and @, 3's and @'s? If so, I think people extend from that.
[nq:1]There may be a mixture of copycatting and intuition involved.[/nq]
Posters should say where they live, and for which
area they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]This might be related to a "massive" increase in the ... z" whereas DVDs might be pronounced "dee vee dee ess".[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't always capitalize all those initialisms, so that leaves me with dvds, which probably means something else. Isn't the proper plural of 3 and @, 3's and @'s? If so, I think people extend from that.[/nq]
And occasionally some old **** (like moi) writes in to point out that back when he was in school and dinosaurs still roamed the earth, we were taught that an apostrophe was required in the pluralization of most initialisms. The notion that this usage is a novelty is another manifestation of the recency illusion (as to which, feel free to consult Language Log.)
There is also the possibility that the OP somehow became sensitized to this particular usage and has mistaken his taking notice of more apostrophes for the presence of more apostrophes.
Or it may be that as the Internet allows the publication of more and more written words by more and more "writers," the manifestations of ignorance about the use of the apostrophe have multiplied, and usage may even have mutated even as the OP points out.

I offer these as possible answers to the question on the subject line. I may be wrong as to some or all. My own suspicion more room for ignorance is predominant.

Bob Liebli'ch

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]This might be related to a "massive" increase in the ... z" whereas DVDs might be pronounced "dee vee dee ess".[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't always capitalize all those initialisms, so that leaves me with dvds, which probably means something else. Isn't the proper plural of 3 and @, 3's and @'s? If so, I think people extend from that.[/nq]
And what about message-ids? I don't feel like putting an apostrophe in this one, but there does seem to be a potential problem, since ids has to be read Eye Dees to convey the correct meaning, If it is read message ids, it sounds like something Freud wrote about.

So would message-id's be so bad?

Posters should say where they live, and for which
area they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What is happening to the apostrophe? It seems that in just a few yaer the use of an apostrophe when writing a plural word has increased massively. DVD's in a shop etc.[/nq]
According to Garner's Modern American Usage Second Edition (Bryan A. Garner, Oxford University Press, 2003), there are three legitimate uses for the apostrophe:
1. Possessive case.
2. To mark the omission of one or more elements and the contracting of theremaining elements.
3. "It is sometimes used to mark the plural of an acronym, number, or letter e.g.: CPA's (now more usually CPAs), 1990's (now more usually 1990s), and p's and q's (still with apostrophes because of the single letters)."

Garner says the trend is to drop the apostrophe for plural acronyms, but he doesn't say it's wrong, and he implies that it used to be the preferred form of punctuation. So I believe it should be consider correct.

Usenet · Answer

Reading from
[nq:1]What is happening to the apostrophe? It seems that in just a few yaer the use of an apostrophe when writing a plural word has increased massively. DVD's in a shop etc. Has anyone researched WHY this is happening?[/nq]
Walking through Wal-Mart, I also saw a handwritten sign that said "sterio's". I blame ignorance. People, even some in professional positions like graphic designers, just aren't aware of how to use apostrophes.
I used to think that it was CD's and DVD's because I thought I had remembered hearing a rule in English class that said you use an apostrophe to pluralize an acronym. DVD stands for Digital Video Disc, if I'm not mistaken, so it's DVD's. Yet a friend of mine who is a published writer and classical musician claims that there is no apostrophe in those cases. It's CDs, DVDs, the 1920s, the 1980s, and so forth.

People often use an apostrophe when talking about a dog wagging "it's" tail. There is not supposed to be an apostrophe there. An apostrophy is used with "it" when it's a contraction for "it is", as I've used it in this sentence. My placement of the comma outside the quotation marks is because I think the British version of punctuation is more logical, same as for placing periods outside the last quotation mark when just quoting one "word".
Damaeus

/ \ / / / / / `/ / ` \ / `/ / \ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / ( ) / / \ , / / / / / / / \ , / \ / \ , / / /

Remove "damaeus" from the domain to reply by e-mail.

Usenet · Answer

(snip)
[nq:1]My placement of the comma outside the quotation marks is because I think the British version of punctuation is more logical, same as for placing periods outside the last quotation mark when just quoting one "word".[/nq]
"The position of another punctuation mark inside or outside a closing quotation mark depends on what the other mark is and whether it appears in the quotation."
"Punctuation added to a quotation requires the uses of (brackets) to indicate the insertion."
Ending "(c)olons and semicolons are placed outside quotation marks."

"Place dashes, question marks, and exclamation points inside quotation marks only iif they belong to the quotation."
Little, Brown Handbook

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What is happening to the apostrophe? It seems that in ... a shop etc. Has anyone researched WHY this is happening?[/nq]
[nq:1]Walking through Wal-Mart, I also saw a handwritten sign that said "sterio's". I blame ignorance. People, even some in professional ... musician claims that there is no apostrophe in those cases. It's CDs, DVDs, the 1920s, the 1980s, and so forth.[/nq]
Is this possibly a case of BrE versus colonials?

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]DVD stands for Digital Video Disc, if I'm not mistaken, so it's DVD's.[/nq]
Just to be pedantic.. It used to, and that answer was accepted last week on Jeopardy without comment, but I think they changed it to Digital Versatile Disc. Because the format is used for more than video, or something like that.
My motto: Always first with the vaguest news.

Posters should say where they live, and for which
area they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 10 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years

What is happening with apostrophes?

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