20.7.07

Extension Of Misplaced Apostrophes

We're all familiar with the chronic misplacement of apostrophes after individual letters and numbers. It's common among the handful of illiterates who can't tell the difference between as and aa nor is and is by context. I'll admit, I usually capitalize it if it's going to be a single letter like that, the ABCs, for example. Very often we get apostrophes thrown in there, ABC's, a's, b's, when it's intended to signify the plural. This happens all of the time too with numbers, especially decades in my experiences, "the 90's" and so on.

Now, earlier today I was watching tv during a failed attempt to get myself to stay awake. I cannot remember what the commercial was for, since I fell back asleep, but the captions were on, and I distinctly saw the word TWO'S in the context where TWOS would be correct. I guess for some the idea of separating numbers from this s, possibly from inflectional suffixes or whatever, is becoming adapted regardless of whatever graphic form the number is represented by.

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