'

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_interzone.ucc.ie>
Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 16:37:04 +0100 (BST)

Pam Carlson gets Dara Happan, in more ways than one:
> But, apostophes can also denote missing text, which is
> why they are used in contractions. Therefore, under Apostophe Use Rule
> #37,"DH's" is correct, because the apostrophe denotes the missing
> "appan" in "Happans".

Well, DH is an acronym, rather than a contraction, hence the lack of "'"'s (!). If we wrote it somewhat more correctly as an abbreviation ("D.H."), then we could more clearly see that the 'ara 'appa (as some of our Sassenach colleagues might say) was replaced by periods -- and we'd still be confused as to how to pluralise it.

Actually, I _do_ think it's OK when you are using some sort of acronym, or textually non-word-like entity. If I was referring to the Pelorian mini-toga fashions of the 1560's, say. That's not the line taken by the last person from the PNWFC to chide on the subject, though.

Lexically,
Alex.

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