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Internet Message Format  |  1993-01-25  |  1.4 KB
  1. Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!spool.mu.edu!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!au500
  2. From: au500@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Linda Zinn)
  3. Newsgroups: alt.usage.english
  4. Subject: Re: Learning the ropes of "Ins and Outs"
  5. Date: 25 Jan 1993 21:21:44 GMT
  6. Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
  7. Lines: 20
  8. Message-ID: <1k1ll8INNjkm@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>
  9. References: <baron.103.727973103@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1js1usINNskg@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> <1js3c7INNfe@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>
  10. Reply-To: au500@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Linda Zinn)
  11. NNTP-Posting-Host: slc10.ins.cwru.edu
  12.  
  13.  
  14. In a previous article, baron@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Dennis Baron) says:
  15.  
  16. lz:
  17. >>Sorry, but your coworker was correct. "Ins" and "outs"
  18. >>are simply plurals of "in" and "out," so there's no 
  19. >>need for an apostrophe.
  20.  
  21. db:
  22. >So what do you do with do's and don'ts
  23.  
  24. I'd do just what you have done. Two of three dictionaries I checked give
  25. "do's" as the preferred plural over "dos." The third only lists "do's."
  26. I wonder whether that's because the Spanish _dos_ is so familiar to English
  27. speakers or because "do's" simply looks better beside "don'ts."
  28. -- 
  29. ________________________________________________________________________
  30. * Linda Zinn                    When you point a finger at someone,    *
  31. * au500@cleveland.freenet.edu   you're pointing three back at yourself *
  32. * ******Wanted: Books by E.D.E.N. Southworth; cattail dinnerware****** *
  33.