Trivial question about correct English grammar

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the correct pluralization of abbreviations, specifically whether to use an apostrophe when forming plurals. Participants confirm that abbreviations like "CERN" should be pluralized as "CERNs" without an apostrophe, as apostrophes indicate possession or contraction. They also clarify that in English, periodless acronyms do not require apostrophes for pluralization, while abbreviations with periods may use them for clarity. The conversation highlights the distinction between acronyms and initialisms, emphasizing that acronyms form new words while initialisms do not.

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  • #31
LennoxLewis said:
Oh my, what did i start with one innocent question...

Good thread, well done! :)
 
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  • #32
  • #33
leroyjenkens said:
Kids can be smart, but other times they can be really, really dumb. Proof is in that article.

The same can be said for any slang, it's neither dumb nor smart. It just is.
 
  • #34
xxChrisxx said:
The same can be said for any slang, it's neither dumb nor smart. It just is.

I said the kids are dumb; but the slang is dumb too. At least normal slang makes sense, or is at least made from real words. Most of the time it's just a shortening of a word or phrase for casual discussions.
The internet slang is different. Some of it is based off of a typo. Like "pwn", for instance. That's deliberately misspelling "own". That's just asinine.
 
  • #35
leroyjenkens said:
At least normal slang makes sense, or is at least made from real words.
Are you my having a bubble me old china? I don't adam and eve it
 
  • #36
mgb_phys said:
Are you my having a bubble me old china? I don't adam and eve it

BOO YA! ... He just got PWND!
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... I think :rolleyes:
 

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