Hello,
I love your website but I think you are wrong about apostrophes. I am a publisher of educational material for kids and after a heated debate about ABC's vs ABCs I did a lot of checking around.
The truth is, that ABCs and 123s is correct.
Receiving As on a report card is correct. A's is not.
The problem is that so many Americans spell this incorrectly now, that it is viewed as being correct or acceptable.
This is especially scary when I see it on the covers of educational material.
Thank you for creating SPOGG. I will be sure to read through everything you have here.
Sincerely,
Sara J.
Dear Sara,
If you follow AP Style, as many journalists do, then ABCs is correct, as is A's. The reason for the apostrophe in the latter is that As reads as "as." This could be confusing.
One could italicize the A in As. It is a fairly subtle difference.
The point, at any rate, is that if one follows AP Style, then this is the convention one must use.
If you still view this as an abomination, then you must join the Apostrophe Protection Society and take up your issue with Norm Goldstein, guardian of journalistic style, and editor of the Associated Press Stylebook.
That is a fight we would enjoy watching -- maybe even on cable television.
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