Klarinet Archive - Posting 000234.txt from 1999/05

From: John Dablin <johnd@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Plural of Thank you (was Coughy, or ti?)
Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 15:53:06 -0400

> Now, here's a question for you. How does one pluralize a phrase, for
> instance "thank you?" To use an apostrophe ("thank you's") makes me
> cringe.

In English "you" is both singular and plural, so "thank you" is correct
whether you're talking to one person or many. The language is clumsy in
this respect, you have to resort to a phrase if you want to make it
clear that you mean the plural (e.g. "Thank you all").

I agree with you about the appalling misuse of apostrophes - they should
only be used to show possession ("this is John's clarinet") or omission
("they've got one", short for "they have...").

As far as I know, what I've said is true for American English as well as
British English.

> Do these sorts of things bother anyone else, or are we lovers of
> language just an anomaly?
As you can see, it bothers me too. I couldn't possibly improve on Tony
Pay's explanation of why spelling and grammar are important but I agree
with everything he said.
--
John Dablin
Aylesbury UK

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