# Any liguists around to explain the inexorable march towards 's denoting the plural? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 17, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519 "2003-06-17T18:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/21 "2003-06-18T04:49:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CurtC \* > \*\*My favorite example of this was a styrofoam cup placed near the cash register at a convenience store. . . \*\* > [@](#): > > [STYROFOAM](http://www.dow.com/styrofoam/na/about/regtm.htm) is a registered trademark of The Dow Chemical Company for its distinctive Blue insulation product used primarily in the construction industry. It is not used in the manufacture of disposable foam products, such as food packaging, cups, plates, coolers or egg trays. These disposable products are made of either molded expanded polystyrene beads or thin extruded polystyrene sheet, neither of which is manufactured by Dow in the United States. > > So next time you get a cup of java to go, remember, you can’t drink coffee from a STYROFOAM cup – because there is no such thing! ---
**Author:** ![milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@milk\_milk\_lemonade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milk_milk_lemonade)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/22 "2003-06-18T08:27:45Z")
I almost believe “CD’s” is right because the apostrophe indicates missing letters from “Compact Disks” rather than a plural in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/23 "2003-06-18T09:24:40Z")
I am not a linguist, but I wrote a rant on the subject, presented [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=185128) for your delectation. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/24 "2003-06-18T09:27:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by milk milk lemonade \* > \*\*I almost believe “CD’s” is right because the apostrophe indicates missing letters from “Compact Disks” rather than a plural in its own right. \*\* This ain’t right, since otherwise you should be writing C’D’s. It should be CDs. See rule 3 at the [Apostrophe Protection Society](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=185128&highlight=apostrophes) website. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/25 "2003-06-18T10:48:17Z")
When I’d first joined the Army back in 1979, the correspondence guidelines required abbreviations such as CD to be pluralized with the apostrophe: CD --\> CD’s. A couple of years later, those guidelines were changed to require just the s: CD --\> CDs. Just as in so many other endeavors, a number of people are slow to change. ---
**Author:** ![Lagged2Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lagged2Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lagged2Death)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/26 "2003-06-18T14:52:52Z")
No apostrophe discussion should be without a link to [this handy guide.](http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif) ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/27 "2003-06-18T15:06:11Z")
This is not really an interesting linguistics issue or grammar issue, because it concerns a simple issue of style. It’s not even really a punctuation issue, since I doubt any of you who are complaining about 's being used for plurals has ever really been confused by the issue. The reason confusion occurs is because there are acceptable ways to use the 's to form plurals, including forming the plurals of letters or numbers (1970’s and X’s). It’s considered acceptable to write 1970s or 1970’s. Do you really see a big difference there? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/28 "2003-06-18T15:16:46Z")
_The New York Times_ is notorious for its incorrect use of possessive apostrophes—they even had some kind of half-assed op-ed piece defending themselves for “She was born in the 1920’s” and “He started acting in his 30’s.” If I made mistakes like that at my magazine, I would be _so_ out of work. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/29 "2003-06-18T15:20:06Z")
Thanks Lagged2Death for the handy guide. I am thinking of having it put on a stamp which I can apply to those “banana’s 59 cents” signs – or the forearm of the offenders if possible. I think it’s an interesting issue not necessarily linguistically or grammatically but maybe educationally – why aren’t people learning these things in school? As a former teacher I reject the idea that “grammar teachers aren’t doing their jobs” since I spent one entire semester trying to teach my COLLEGE FRESHMEN the difference between it’s and its, which I wonder why they didn’t learn sooner. I still wonder, but they did not learn. Was I failing to do my job? How, I wonder? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/30 "2003-06-18T17:29:47Z")
It’s actually getting worse, if you can believe that. I saw this on another message board: > [@](#): > > foto,s Twice! Aaaarrgghhh! My eyes! My eyes! ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/31 "2003-06-18T17:58:02Z")
**Exapno** , check out [this picture](http://www.crowaptok.com/images/Image(33).jpg) I took in Dublin the other week. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/32 "2003-06-18T18:13:02Z")
1970s vs. 1970’s There’s one easy way to solve this: [GOOGLEFIGHT!!!](http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1=1970s&q2=1970%27s&B1=Make+a+fight%21&compare=1&langue=us) \*btw, same result for 1980(’)s and 1990(’)s ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/33 "2003-06-18T19:06:49Z")
Y’all have have all managed to hit a subject with more scope than expected. The krauts are doing it, too. A restaurant downtown here has a chalkboard out front where they post the daily special. For the last couple of weeks, it has had a reference to a certain meal available on all Tuesdays (Dienstags.) They’ve consistently spelled it “Dienstag’s,” which is definitely not the the norm in Germany. How in heavens name is this crap spreading across the whole world, in multiple languages? ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/34 "2003-06-18T19:12:41Z")
Arrrrggggghhhhhh! heaven’s name ---
**Author:** ![moejuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@moejuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejuck)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/35 "2003-06-18T19:39:34Z")
**Dragontoes** , I would like to know whose jobs are the English teachers doing? I don’t think it is fair to blame educators for something that seems to be a problem across all of society. My high school Physics teacher tought me a lot about circuitry, but I don’t have any idea how to identify circuits today. Is that his fault? Let’s blame computers. It seems to me that computers have brought about quite a loss in the amount of writing that children have to do. Without practice, it is tough to remember the rules of grammar. When people do use thier computers to write, the writing is often full of abbreviations and a lack of puntuation. Mistakes that are caught by programs on the computer don’t teach anyone anything. As a side note: What about the influence of “cute” spelling changes, often seen in advertising, and thier affect on young children learning to read and spell? It took me awhile to convince my son that Krispy Kreme doughnuts taste great, but they weren’t helping him with his upcoming spelling test. ---
**Author:** ![moejuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@moejuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejuck)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/36 "2003-06-18T19:42:38Z")
taught, tought… See what I mean! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/37 "2003-06-18T19:56:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mort Furd \* > \*\*How in heavens name is this crap spreading across the whole world, in multiple languages? \*\* New from Michael Crichton: _The Apostrophe Strain._ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/38 "2003-06-18T21:21:56Z")
**jjimm** , how is this even possible? ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/39 "2003-06-19T03:28:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aaslatten \* > This is not really an interesting linguistics issue or grammar issue, because it concerns a simple issue of style. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519/40 "2003-06-19T08:00:28Z")
Not exactly, IMHO. After all, orthography is a linguistic issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-liguists-around-to-explain-the-inexorable-march-towards-s-denoting-the-plural/182519.md?page=3)