I am no longer in the defensive line to protect the English language from destuction. After all, I am retired and really no longer give much of a...
Speak and write as you wish. A. Leon Polhill, Gator ________________________________ From: Cecilia <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, September 4, 2009 6:16:28 PM Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald andPalm Beach Post LOL... good question. I don't think your example of "'60s music" would necessarily be possessive. It would depend on the context. "I like '60s music" doesn't include the possessive form. "'60s" is merely a modifier of "music" just as it would be if you wrote "sixties music". "I like '60's music" would mean you liked the music of 1960 rather than the entire decade. "I like the '60s' music" includes the possessive form, and you'd put an apostrophe after the s, just as you would to make any plural that ended in "s" possessive. Doesn't that sound awkward, though? I would probably write "the music of the '60s" or "the music of the 1960s" or even "the music of the sixties" and avoid the confusion of whether apostrophes were appropriate or not. ;-) Pedantry much? Cee ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] >To: [email protected] >Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 4:35 PM >Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald >andPalm Beach Post > >What if you want to make '60s possessive? > >For example,"'60s music" > >Would that be "'60's music" > > >Go Gators!!!! > >Ken B. (NYC Gator) > >Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed ________________________________ From: "Cecilia" >Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 15:38:35 -0400 >To: <[email protected]> >Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald and >Palm Beach Post > >Actually, Zeb, that apostrophe is misplaced and often is, even in the writing >of learned folks. If you consult a writing handbook, you will find that a >reference to the years 1960-1969 should be written "'60s", not "60's", with >the leading apostrophe there to denote the omission of the 1 and the 9. The >term is not possessive, and, therefore, the apostrophe between the 0 and the s >is incorrect. > >That being said, it is considered correct to insert an apostrophe when >pluralizing a letter. It is correct to write, for example, "My son got 5 A's >on his report card". That is done so that the reader will not confuse the >plural of "A" with the word "As". > >Thank you for providing a way for me to kill 5 minutes of this endless wait >for kickoff... > >Cee >----- Original Message ----- >>From: John Vega >>To: [email protected] >>Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 2:42 PM >>Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald and >>Palm Beach Post >> >> >>The apostrophe that I will never understand is why the decade of the Sixties >>is often written as "60's" as opposed to "60s." >> >> >> > > >> > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
