I've been wrestling with this same matter, Dick. I side with you on preferring B for the reasons you gave, but I don't have an authority to cite either. Sue Webb Texas Woman's University ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Veit, UNCW English Department" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001 2:59 PM Subject: Do I or don't I? > Here's a usage question. I need to put a header on a web page. Which should > I choose? > > A. Dos and Don'ts > B. Do's and Don'ts > C. Do's and Don't's > > I searched for all three using the Google search engine to survey common > practice and got the following results: > > A. 136,000 web sites > B. 157,000 sites > C. 8,850 sites > > I also got 17,200 sites with "Do's and Dont's" and 4,050 with "Dos and > Donts." Since I'm assuming the use of apostrophes to mark contractions, I'm > ignoring these last two. > > My inclination accords with the plurality. I favor B, but a colleague of > mine favors C. I'd like informed advice from y'all. > > My reasoning for favoring B, even though A and C are internally consistent > in their use/nonuse of apostrophes, is this: Although apostrophes are > generally not used for plurals, an exception is made when punctuation is > needed to prevent confusion, as in: > > A's are hard to get from Prof. Gradgrind. > You sing the do's and re's, and I'll sing the mi's and fa's. > > So I lean toward B. The plural of Do needs an apostrophe so it doesn't look > like Dos. The plural of Don't doesn't. > > What do you think? Citation of authority is especially welcome. > > Dick Veit > UNCW English Department > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/