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I'm kind of surprised that , with so many sticklers for grammar and
procedure on this thread, this question hasn't sent us to the grammar
'Bibles'; the Harbrace College Handbook and/or the Hodge's Harbrace
Handbook. Both are essentially the same and, if you look under the chapter
for Apostrophes, under section c you will find this statement: "When no
confusion would result, either 's or -s forms such plurals as the following:
1900's OR 1900s
her and's OR her ands
the &'s OR the &s
his 7's OR his 7s
the VFW's OR the VFWs
The apostrophe is used to identify either possessive case or the plural of a
term. Depending on usage, PC's could be possessive case (as in "This is the
PC's hard drive") or plural (as in "Those PC's are being upgraded
tomorrow"). This is one of the problems with English as a language, it has
too many exceptions and complications that make it difficult or impossible
to definitively define proper usage in this case.
We had this same discussion years ago at a company I was working for and the
result was the same; despite the weight of a variety of industry standard
sources, proper usage of the apostrophe in this case is unclear. It all
depends on whose standard/style guide, etc. you choose to follow.
Good luck.
Regards,
Pete Sanborn
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-81537 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-81537 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com]On Behalf Of John Posada
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 11:30 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Question
Don't we do this all the time?
The program's help file.
The automobile's alternator.
The machine's OFF button.
or am I missing something?
> Yes -- we live in a world where inanimate objects hold possession.
> What next
> ... the Ebonic Style Guide for Technical Communicators?
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