Klarinet Archive - Posting 000277.txt from 1999/05

From: Neil Leupold <nleupold@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] re: Plural of Thank You ;)
Date: Sun, 9 May 1999 00:45:29 -0400

On Sat, 8 May 1999, David Blumberg wrote:

> Jay Wrote:
> Plural of Thank you (was Coughy, or ti?)
> Message-Id: <199905082122.VAA70168@-----.net>
> How about, "Thanks y'all".
> Jay Webler
> >> 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.

The use of apostrophes in English is formally defined.
I believe that people have become so stigmatized against
using them incorrectly (i.e.; inappropriately indicat-
ing the possessive case) that they find it hard to ac-
cept that using them as a form of pluralization is, in
fact, correct under the right circumstances. For example,
"thank you's" as a plural of "thank you" is correct. It's
a good example of how illogical English is, even to native
speakers.

-- Neil

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