[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Seeking Grammar Police Ruling - Typo's

[P. Alexis Nguyen]

bboyminn:
> But that is my very point, I'm not saying that "'s" pluralizes
> anything. I'm saying it /contracts/ a phrase already ending in
> "s"; 'TYPOgraphical errorS'.
>>> SNIP <<<
> So, where do we stand now?

Ali:
Contractions such as gov't or int'l is common enough to be accepted as
grammatically correct (though stylistically, I wouldn't put that in
any formal writing).  Typo's, on the other hand, is often incorrectly
used to mean typos, not the contraction you're referring to.  In that
sense, it's wrong.

On the other hand, language is fluid, and new words/usage are
constantly being added.  Didn't the OED (or was that Meriam Webster?)
recently add words such as googling and muggle?  But then, if typo's
were to come into "proper usage," I'd still be on it being used as the
plural form of typo.


bboyminn:
> Also note that I searched Google for "typo's" and found
> 325,000 instances, which admittedly pales by comparison to
> a search for 'typos', but it says I'm not only one. Also
> note that one of those instances was National Public Radio.

Ali:
Meh.  The web is a (relatively) new enough medium for many of the old
guards that they haven't taken to seriously editing their writings -
it's also considered far more informal, so many of the media outlets
don't even have editors for web writing.  Moreover, I'm betting that
they're betting the average person won't notice.  (And let's face it.
They're right.  The average person adds that random apostrophe in a
million inappropriate places.)


bboyminn:
> Certainly, as my search shows, "typo's" is not common, but
> again the question at hand is not whether "'s" pluralizes
> anything, but whether "typo's" is a valid contraction for
> a plural phrase that already ends in "s"?

Ali:
At this point in time, I'd say that you're wrong and that typos is not
grammatically correct, but who can really say what's to happen in the
future?  English is an exceptionally fluid language, which is why I've
always hated it.  (It's my 2nd language, and it's a pain because there
are few hard & fast rules for, oh, anything since the average person
isn't exactly going around and only following Chicago style or
something.  Blegh.)

Ali, hoping that this email doesn't have terribly obvious
grammatically incorrect usage in it because it would mean the 162 pgs
doc she is editing also has grammatical issues she has missed