All about apostrophes

cj Sez: How to properly use an apostrophe in some pluralshas always plagued me, especially when input from critique readers challenges what I've written.

    I usually get on the Internet and do a search toprove to myself that I’m right (almost always), so I decided I should go to THEsource for writers, The Chicago Manual of Style. I recorded the properusage in a handy-dandy Word document that I keep on my computer and thought I'dshare my findings with you.

 

https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo25956703.html
  A Google search for how to use apostrophes results in a long list of sources. The following excerpts are examples of questions asked by wordsmiths and theanswers provided by a CMOS correspondent:

 

Plural Names
Q.  My boyfriend and I are having a battle royal over the use ofapostrophes in plural names. In his PhD dissertation he repeatedly refers to afamily by the name of Wallace. When he refers to them in the plural, he insiststhat the correct form is “the Wallace’s,” which seems entirely incorrect to me.I hold that it should be “the Wallaces,” just like “the McDonalds” or “theMcPartlands” or “the DeVitos.” He is backing up his position with the example“the G.I.s,” which he insists should be pluralized as “the G.I.’s.” Pleasehelp. This is ruining our dinner conversation!

A. Usually in such arguments, the woman isright. Yours is no exception. The plural of names of persons and othercapitalized nouns is usually formed with the additionof s or es. An apostrophe is never used to form the pluralof family names. Write “the Wallaces,” “the Joneses,” the “Jordans,” etc. Seeparagraph 7.8 of the sixteenth edition of CMOS for the full statementof the applicable rule. As for G.I., Chicago style is GI (no periods), theplural of which we write as GIs. See 10.4 and 7.14.

Possessives and Attributives
Q.   When indicating possession of a word that ends in s, isit correct to repeat the s after using an apostrophe? For example,which is correct: “Dickens’ novel” or “Dickens’s novel”?

A. Either is correct,though we prefer the latter. Please consult 7.15–18 for a full discussion ofthe rules for forming the possessive of proper nouns. For a discussion of thealternative practice of simply adding an apostrophe to form the possessive ofproper nouns ending in s, see paragraph 7.21.
Q.  I have suddenly become an editor and am having trouble on a dailybasis with the numeric use of decades. First, is “the 90s” or “the ’90s”correct? We often see the apostrophe omitted these days. Next, if a sentencecontains the phrase, “Perhaps the 70s best director . . .” (meaning,the best director of that decade), “70s” is both plural and possessive. Shouldit be “70’s”? “70s’”? Other than reconstructing the sentence, what’s an editorto do?
A. Strictly speaking, ’90s, with the apostrophe, iscorrect.
The’70s’ finest director was Martin Scorsese, particularly for his workon Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Taxi Driver.
Notethe apostrophes, both of them. You are always free to write “seventies’finest.” Or, “The finest director of the ’70s was assuredly Francis FordCoppola, for his work on the first two Godfather filmsand Apocalypse Now.”
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  cj Sez: By the by, the Seventeenth Edition of TheChicago Manual of Style is still available, and according to the Amazon.comblurb: “for more than one hundred years The Chicago Manual of Style hasremained the definitive guide for anyone who works with words.” Notice it said "anyone." The resource is not just for authors. 

 

Hope you found a nugget in this post that you canuse, and FYI, The Associated PressStylebook used by journalists differs somewhat.
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Writers, if you have a book launch coming up andwant to schedule a post on Lyrical Pens for your blog tour, drop me a note. (PG13,please.)
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     On the Personal News Front, I can claim a writing victory:I submitted a chapter from my re-activated and now re-themed WIP to a contest. Morethan any dollar award, what I really want is the professional critique that allentries are to receive. I need (am desperate for) someone other than a familymember to give me feedback on this piece. Even so, bonus points for the family member who thoughtthe MC was boring, and I will owe him a steak dinner should the entry garnersome positive comments and direction. I finally like this version betterthan any of the previous iterations, and I hope someone else likes it too. Ofcourse, the changes make even more work: Now I have to re-edit the re-edit Ijust finished of my “Untitled” manuscript because I’ve changed the plot . . .again.
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   That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for rest, relaxation, and reading!

cj

   My booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.Little note: The HauntedBook Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a smallstash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) byany author of your choice.
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