(no subject)

[gnomi]

[Poll #1418136]

Comments

[byrne.livejournal.com]

I have read -- and can't cite, damn it -- that the apostrophe is used to denote plurals for numerals and single letters. I hate it, I think it looks wrong, but I believe it to be correct.

I'll see if I can find the source. It might have been Chicago.

Oh, and for Lennox I was assuming it to be a surname, which is always made a plural by the addition of an s alone.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

I'm going to go for the plural of 72 as seventies-two. Otherwise, 72s

And the plural of Lennox is obviously Lennoxen.

Having worked ina bakery where we made banana bread and had the browning bananas for way too long, nothing could convince me that Banana Bread isn't yucky (and bananas are only good when there is still some green on the peel).

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I believe that Garner allows either with or without, as long as there won't be ambiguity in the sentence (As and Bs is more ambiguous -- because of "as" -- than, say, Ps and Qs would be). You may be right about Chicago, though. I didn't feel like digging mine out. :-)

I agree with you, though, and I lean strongly toward no apostrophe.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I like "seventies-two."

And I can completely understand your aversion to banana bread.

[madknits.livejournal.com]

I would say [A]s and [B]s.
Using the apostrophe makes it a possesive.
Not using it makes it look like [as] with a capital letter.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

"A and Bs"

I could be wrong...

[moonpuppy61.livejournal.com]

1) As a general rule the first will be correct but only if A and B are properly plural with an 'S'.

2) The correct plural of 72 is "one gross" or 144. Math is fun!

3) Lennox is a Surname and as such does not automatically become plural with an additional 'S' but sometimes is a plural with the same spelling.

4) Those yellow fruits are only to be eaten under Doctor's orders.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I like the brackets, but I'm not sure they're standard usage.

I agree with you on the "as" problem.

[diannefox.livejournal.com]

It's Chicago. Every time I get to that point in my CMOS, I start to whimper and have a tantrum, because I really really really hate apostrophes to denote plurals for numerals and single letters. I think it looks stupid, and I also think it contributes to the mass confusion about possessives and plurals of other words.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

It's a style thing; there's rarely a "right" and "wrong" in this sort of case.

[diannefox.livejournal.com]

Also, honey-butter goes really well with banana bread. :)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I like your answer #2!

As for #3, how would you refer, then, to multiple members of the Lennox family whose first names you do not know?

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, yum. I haven't made honey butter in a couple of months, but you're right; it would go very well.

[llennhoff.livejournal.com]

Lennoxi is the proper plural of Lennox, of course.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

But of course!

[introverte.livejournal.com]

My first though was (A and B)s. Probably it's not a good idea to mix math and grammar.

Now I want banana bread.

[thespisgeoff.livejournal.com]

For As and Bs, it depends on if we're discussing the pure letter or a letter grade. "I like this font, except for the capital A's and B's, which are a bit overwrought" versus "Johnny brought home "A"s and "B"s from school." Probably only valid in the Geoffrey Bleeker Style Manual, but it's how I work it.

[moonpuppy61.livejournal.com]

What? Talk about those Lennox behind their backs? Never!

[moonpuppy61.livejournal.com]

btw, I was thinking that A&B were placeholders not that you were asking about the actual letters themselves.

[michelel72.livejournal.com]

I've seen self-styled official quizzes that decree "A's and Bs" is correct, because you shouldn't use apostrophes to pluralize ... except when the resulting word might be confusing. Which is not a coherent rule and I will fight it tirelessly. Bleargh. Apostrophes! do! not! make! plurals! (And the NYTimes can go to ... somewhere annoying ... for requiring apostrophes to pluralize abbreviations. TF, people, TF.)

For numbers, see previous rant. 72s.

Lennox -> Lennoxes just as box -> boxes.

And banana bread properly goes with nuts baked in, and maybe some butter or margarine, but anything else would just overwhelm the bread. (And milk is yucky. Yucky I say!)

[aunt-becca.livejournal.com]

Banana bread made into french toast is drool-worthy :) But who ever has leftovers?

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

As and Bs vs. A's and B's makes me ask how you designate possessive of two people:

Jack's and Jill's or Jack and Jill's

And what is the possessive of an entity that has a possessive name already: McDonald's's?

[moonpuppy61.livejournal.com]

Also, what is the cultural source of the surname? Since that can inform us to use or not use an 'S' to make the plural.

Plus I also use 'S' or not depending on the sound when I say it. To be understood as it is spoken is often how I choose to write it.

I'm more of an Orator then a Grammarian.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

Why not Lennox -> Lennoxen as Ox -> Oxen?

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. Silly Chicago. :-)