Guest  [More info] In the phrase, "do's and don't's, " what is the proper use of the apostrophes used to pluralize these words? For example, it may be written in an article as "The do's and don't's of successful gardening." I have seen it written as "dos and don'ts," "do's and don'ts," etc. What is proper for this phrase? Guest

	+1 Mister Micawber  [More info] There is no answer that will not raise a storm of protest from some quarter, Guest. Some say that apostrophes should NEVER be used for plurals, hence: "dos and don'ts". I personally do not like that 'dos', which looks like computer software, and would be happy to settle for the mongrel solution, "do's and don'ts". Purists from both sides would decry that, however, and some would opt for the more consistent "do's and don't's"-- which I don't like because of the plethora of apostrophes in the latter word. Good luck in all your endeavors. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 36,916 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

	+1 Grammar Geek  [More info] I would write Ross's Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 22,009 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	+1 Grammar Geek  [More info] Anonymous “It should be Ross' Handyman ” "should be"? There is no universal agreement on this. But since most people would say "Rossiz" the extra s after the ' makes sense to me. Grammar Geek