[Grammar/poll] Quick check ...

[dancefloorlandmine]

Should the plural of an acronym have an apostrophe?

[Poll #1217630]

I know what the Times and Oxford style guides say, but I was wondering about the opinions of my readership on the wonderful wibbly wobbly world wide web.

Comments

Re: To hell with the damn' things

[steer.livejournal.com]

Is there any case in English where an apostrophe for elision is for dropped letters at the end of a word? I can only think of examples where the apostrophe indicates dropped letters mid word as in don't, can't and so on. A dot is the usual indicator of dropped letters at the end of a word. That is, i.e. indicates the dropped letters not i'e' (although ie is also acceptable these days in any case according to Chambers). I can't think of an example of an apostrophe used for dropped letters at the end of a wordk.

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Damn', you're right.

[steer.livejournal.com]

See the post below though for examples which do have your usage.

Re: To hell with the damn' things

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

Huntin', fishin', shootin', rock 'n' roll...

But those are to indicate dropped letters in pronunciation, rather than missing out letters to make an abbreviation, so I think your point stands.

Re: To hell with the damn' things

[steer.livejournal.com]

Ah. Interesting, I had forgotten that usage though.