# Words that are commonly (and incorrectly) pluralized or "apostrophed" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251 "2021-06-14T16:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [July 15, 2021, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/121 "2021-07-15T04:41:35Z")
What to do and what not to do. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/122 "2021-07-15T06:35:23Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I’ve mini-ranted about my mom’s “possessivization” of almost every store name. She goes to _Nordstrom’s_ and _Barnes & Noble’s_ (shudder). I can relate. I have a relative who calls a certain ice cream store “Baskin’s and Robbin’s.” ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/123 "2021-07-15T06:49:29Z")
“Do this. Don’t do that” (Can’t you read the sign?) – Long haired freaky person ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/124 "2021-07-15T13:47:54Z")
Another “incorrectly singularized” example: people still refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the “Center for Disease Control,” even though it hasn’t been officially called that since 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/125 "2021-07-15T18:01:26Z")
At work our team sends an e-mail to the rest of the team if they are out of the office to go to the dentist or doctor. I did a search through old e-mails and in every case it was “doctor’s appointment” or “dentist appointment”. So, the apostrophe is for doctor but not dentist. It was a small sample, but it’s 100 percent and multiple people. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/126 "2021-07-15T18:16:08Z")
“Dentist’s” is hard to pronounce, which may explain it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/pmX9ZkSEss8/maxresdefault.jpg "Pearl Harbour - At The Dentist (1980 - vinyl rip)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmX9ZkSEss8) ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/127 "2021-07-15T20:19:02Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > I did a search through old e-mails and in every case it was “doctor’s appointment” or “dentist appointment”. So, the apostrophe is for doctor but not dentist. It was a small sample, but it’s 100 percent and multiple people. Based on the Teams chat we use for this purpose where I work, there is exactly one person at my office who consistently talks about “dentist’s appointments”. Three guesses who that pedantic jerk is. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2021, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/128 "2021-07-16T06:47:11Z")
Love that song! ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/129 "2021-07-18T13:18:00Z")
I know “Doctor’s appointment” has been mentioned, but I don’t know if “going to the doctors” has been mentioned. I don’t know if that is intended as plural or “apostrophed”. Either way it doesn’t work, unless the person is going to multiple doctors. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/130 "2021-07-18T13:43:54Z")
I was taught: s = plural s’ = possessive 's = conjunction So, I follow my teachers’ instruction even though Spell Check doesn’t agree with my use of the apostrophe on all words. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/131 "2021-07-18T13:52:08Z")
I might be missing what you’re saying, but 's is either a contraction or a possessive of a singular form, not a conjunction. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/132 "2021-07-18T13:55:09Z")
Just the rules I was taught. Have never seen the usage 'but ‘s’. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/133 "2021-07-18T14:02:04Z")
You drop the final s when the possessive noun ends in s. “That is Jule’s bike” “That is Julius’ bike” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/134 "2021-07-18T14:05:23Z")
OK, I’m clearly misunderstanding you. You’re talking specifically about the phrase “going to the doctors” I assume? I don’t know what apostrophe-s means conjuction means in that case. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/135 "2021-07-18T14:08:18Z")
Well, not quite. That is _a_ guideline by some stylebooks, but the more common rule is apostrophe-s for the possessive of “Julius.” So it would be “that is Julius’s bike.” Chicago Manual of Style (one of the major style guides in the US) has it that way. Associate Press Style does it your way. Strunk and White did it the Chicago Manual of Style way, as well. I personally use the apostrophe-s version, even though I was taught AP Style in my former line of work. (There are also some exceptions, but that’s the main rule for those style guides.) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/136 "2021-07-18T14:28:07Z")
I had no idea. I was taught that in grade school. As a History major I was held to the APA (American Psychological Association) style guide which I just discovered to my chagrin says to always use the final s. In six years of college I was never called on it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/137 "2021-07-18T14:56:20Z")
I grew up using AP style professionally, but my preference is to add that apostrophe-s, especially when it is sounded and because it just makes more sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/138 "2021-07-18T15:09:28Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > At work our team sends an e-mail to the rest of the team if they are out of the office to go to the dentist or doctor. At first reading, I wondered why the whole rest of the team would be out of the office to go to the dentist or doctor at the same time. > [@Author\_Balk](#): > > I did a search through old e-mails and in every case it was “doctor’s appointment” or “dentist appointment”. I suspect @Hatchie’s right that it’s a matter of what’s easy to pronounce. Although it also occurs to me that people sometimes say “dental appointment.” I can’t even think what the equivalent would be—“doctoral appointment”? No. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/139 "2021-07-19T00:51:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Although it also occurs to me that people sometimes say “dental appointment.” I can’t even think what the equivalent would be—“doctoral appointment”? No. Medical appointment. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251/140 "2021-07-19T00:56:46Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Soldiers Field” It’s “Soldier Field”. It’s “Soldiers Field” in Rochester, Minnesota. But I get you, Chicago is the one we all think of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-are-commonly-and-incorrectly-pluralized-or-apostrophed/944251.md?page=8)