[stylist] Question: writing about the letters of the alphabet

[Eve Sanchez]

Sounds like an interesting project. Good luck with it. Hopefully you won't
submit this story somewhere at which point it gets judged by the only
person out there who knows the elusive rule. haha   Seriously, good luck
with your project. Eve

On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 7:12 AM, Donna Hill <penatwork at epix.net> wrote:

> Eve,
> I'm OK with that in general, and like using just the s to make the plural,
> but in this particular case the reference is specifically to lower case. My
> character is legally blind, but still can write. She has a board with
> elastic bands across to keep the lines straight, and she's referring to how
> the elastic stretches down when she makes the lower case g in her name,
> which is Abigail. I can't believe there isn't a rule, but I haven't been
> able to find it.
> Donna
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Eve Sanchez
> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 10:17 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>  Subject: Re: [stylist] Question: writing about the letters of the
> alphabet
>
> Interesting question. I do not know if there is a rule about this or not. I
> do know that I have a personal preference as I have actually thought of
> this
> before. (Great minds...). Well, I like to capitalize the letter referenced
> and then when pluralizing I add a lower case S. For example it would be Gs
> when two or a singular G.Waiting to see if there is a rule on this though I
> may end up ignoring it anyways. Eve
>
> On Wed, Jan 23, 2013 at 12:20 PM, Donna Hill <penatwork at epix.net> wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> > OK, how do you put it in print when you're talking about the letters
> > of the alphabet? For instance, "When I write a g, bla, bla, bla. Or if
> > it were plural, "When I write my gs, ..." I'm looking for what is
> > considered proper grammar/spelling. I've considered having the letter
> > in italics, placing an apostrophe before it and, in the case of a
> > plural, gs would seem more correct than using an apostrophe between
> > the letters -- g's -- because it's not either possessive or a
> > contraction. Jaws likes the apostrophe, however, in terms of
> > pronunciation. Anyway, if anyone has a source for the standard for
> > this, please let me know. I haven't gotten anywhere Googling it, and I
> can't find it in any of the style books I have.
> > Thanks,
> > Donna
> >
> > Read Donna's articles on
> > Suite 101:
> >
> > http://suite101.com/donna-w-hill
> >
> > Connect with Donna on
> > Twitter:
> > www.twitter.com/dewhill
> > LinkedIn:
> > www.linkedin.com/in/dwh99
> > FaceBook:
> > www.facebook.com/donna.w.hill
> >
> > Hear clips from "The Last Straw" at:
> > cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill
> >
> > Apple I-Tunes
> > phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244
> > 374
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Writers Division web site
> > http://www.writers-division.net/
> > stylist mailing list
> > stylist at nfbnet.org
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> > stylist:
> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/3rdeyeonly%40gmai
> > l.com
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site
> http://www.writers-division.net/
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> stylist:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/penatwork%40epix.net
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Writers Division web site
> http://www.writers-division.net/
> stylist mailing list
> stylist at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> stylist:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/3rdeyeonly%40gmail.com
>