Page:U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual 2008.djvu/211

Punctuation

While an apostrophe is used to indicate possession and contractions, it is not generally necessary to use an apostrophe simply to show the plural form of most acronyms, initialisms, or abbreviations, except where clarity and sense demand such inclusion.


 * 49ers
 * TVers
 * OKs
 * MCing
 * RIFing
 * RIFs
 * RIFed
 * YWCAs
 * ABCs
 * 1920s
 * IOUs
 * 10s (thread)
 * 4½s (bonds)
 * 3s (golf)
 * 2 by 4s
 * IQs
 * don't (do not)
 * I've (I have)
 * it's (it is/it has)
 * ne'er (never)
 * e'er (ever)
 * class of '08 (2008)
 * spirit of '76 (1776)

not in her '70s (age)
 * better: in her seventies

not during the '90s
 * better: during the 1990s or during the twenties

but
 * he never crosses his t's
 * she fails to dot her i's
 * a's, &'s, 7's
 * watch your p's and q's
 * are they l's or l's
 * the Oakland A's
 * a number of s's
 * his résumé had too many I's