Stay on Target, Red Corgi

Thanks for the Elementary English lesson this morning.

YAY.

The graphic is wrong about how to use apostrophe with an abbreviation of a year. In the New York Times, the preferred abbreviation is number-apostrophe-s (e.g., 90's), while in many other publications the preferred abbrevation is apostrophe-number-s (e.g., '90s). It has nothing to do with its being possessive or not.

Not to mention the fact that the site's example starts a sentence with a numeral, which is wrong. Their "90's fashion was a bit awkward" should be "Nineties fashion was a bit awkward."

Cute source code, though.

All you need is Bob the Angry Flower's guide to apostrophes:

http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif

Also notice the improper spelling of the word 'preceding' in the last sentence (entry 437 in the Big Book of Unintentional Ironies, '05, Houghton-Mifflin).

Ahahahaha! Great catch, Wile E Coyote! Fixed now. It's Skitt's law in action.

"... while in many other publications the preferred abbrevation is apostrophe-number-s (e.g., '90s). It has nothing to do with its being possessive or not."

That bothered me, too. Possession has nothing to do with it. If you spelled it out, it would be "nineties fashion," not "nineties' fashion."