Howard.Silcock@xxxxxxxxxxx: On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:41:37 +1000, you wrote: > I'll have to lend my support to Bob and Daryl on this one, even if it means > being lumped with the 'pickies'. All the usage guides I've seen now > recommend *against* using apostrophes in MPs, CDs, etc. The only exceptions > they mention are phrases like "dot your i's and cross your t's", where > omitting the apostrophe would be very confusing. > > This particular issue resonates with me because of an incident while I was > working for Defence. I put a great deal of effort into a manual I wrote and > then had to wait for ever for a technical review, which I hoped would > provide valuable technical input about Active Directory matters. Instead I > found that the esteemed 'technical expert' had simply gone through my manual > and put an apostrophe into every occurrence of "OUs" (= organisational > units). (He obviously saw himself as a better authority than the Defence > usage guide, which also specifically outlaws apostrophes in this kind of > situation, and the Manual of Style for Technical Publications, published by > Microsoft - the inventors of OUs.) And that was virtually the only piece of > 'expertise' he deigned to contribute. > > As you can see, I'm still struggling to let go of my resentment.... > Howard, +never+ let go of that resentment .... against the dying of the light..... -Peter M ************************************************** To post a message to austechwriter, send the message to austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To subscribe to austechwriter, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "subscribe" in the Subject field. To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe" in the Subject field. To search the austechwriter archives, go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter To contact the list administrator, send a message to austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx **************************************************