Ok, this is a personal thing for me. It might be just UK/Europe (I don’t know) that rejects this use of the apostrophe in this case. Throughout my North American (US, specifically) education into collegiate level English courses I was taught to use an apostrophe to pluralize initialisms and acronyms specifically. If it is not an initialism or acronym, carry on with just adding an “s.”
If there is an actual problem within this US variation of English that I have been taught, please let me know, because it’s become frustrating to see things such as: “you don’t need that apostrophe,” and “this is a sin against the apostrophe” etc. etc.
I’m not trying to be critical or harsh here, just get a better understanding.
Thanks. That helps quite a bit. The internet’s fury has made me question whether I am correct in this regard countless times, but I still have textbooks that say that the usage in this meme is correct. I’ve been curious for a long time.
I will when I can. They are in a storage unit that I can get to on Saturday at best and I will have to dig through stuff. There is also a fair chance of my memory failing because it has been 25 years.
Ok, this is a personal thing for me. It might be just UK/Europe (I don’t know) that rejects this use of the apostrophe in this case. Throughout my North American (US, specifically) education into collegiate level English courses I was taught to use an apostrophe to pluralize initialisms and acronyms specifically. If it is not an initialism or acronym, carry on with just adding an “s.”
If there is an actual problem within this US variation of English that I have been taught, please let me know, because it’s become frustrating to see things such as: “you don’t need that apostrophe,” and “this is a sin against the apostrophe” etc. etc.
I’m not trying to be critical or harsh here, just get a better understanding.
American checking in, this was also how I was taught to pluralize throughout my education.
The usage in the post title seemed correct to me fwiw
The way I knew it in the UK is:
AC - singular air conditioner
AC’s - air conditioner’s [something]
ACs - multiple air conditioners
Thanks. That helps quite a bit. The internet’s fury has made me question whether I am correct in this regard countless times, but I still have textbooks that say that the usage in this meme is correct. I’ve been curious for a long time.
Share pics of the textbooks saying that, I’d be curious to see.
I will when I can. They are in a storage unit that I can get to on Saturday at best and I will have to dig through stuff. There is also a fair chance of my memory failing because it has been 25 years.
People like simple rules, that’s all. So for most people it’s conjunction or possessive. The hanging apostrophe starts some fun conversations too.