LOL... good question. I don't think your example of "'60s music" would
necessarily be possessive. It would depend on the context.
"I like '60s music" doesn't include the possessive form. "'60s" is merely a
modifier of "music" just as it would be if you wrote "sixties music".
"I like '60's music" would mean you liked the music of 1960 rather than the
entire decade.
"I like the '60s' music" includes the possessive form, and you'd put an
apostrophe after the s, just as you would to make any plural that ended in "s"
possessive. Doesn't that sound awkward, though?
I would probably write "the music of the '60s" or "the music of the 1960s" or
even "the music of the sixties" and avoid the confusion of whether apostrophes
were appropriate or not. ;-)
Pedantry much?
Cee
----- Original Message -----
From: ken...@earthlink.net
To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 4:35 PM
Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald
andPalm Beach Post
What if you want to make '60s possessive?
For example,"'60s music"
Would that be "'60's music"
Go Gators!!!!
Ken B. (NYC Gator)
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Cecilia"
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 2009 15:38:35 -0400
To: <gatortalk@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald and
Palm Beach Post
Actually, Zeb, that apostrophe is misplaced and often is, even in the writing
of learned folks. If you consult a writing handbook, you will find that a
reference to the years 1960-1969 should be written "'60s", not "60's", with the
leading apostrophe there to denote the omission of the 1 and the 9. The term
is not possessive, and, therefore, the apostrophe between the 0 and the s is
incorrect.
That being said, it is considered correct to insert an apostrophe when
pluralizing a letter. It is correct to write, for example, "My son got 5 A's
on his report card". That is done so that the reader will not confuse the
plural of "A" with the word "As".
Thank you for providing a way for me to kill 5 minutes of this endless wait
for kickoff...
Cee
----- Original Message -----
From: John Vega
To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, September 04, 2009 2:42 PM
Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] Today's Gatornews from Miami Herald
and Palm Beach Post
The apostrophe that I will never understand is why the decade of the
Sixties is often written as "60's" as opposed to "60s."
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