Dan wrote...
On Mon 29 Dec 2003 11:47:11a, Jim Wilson wrote in
k.net:

There, see? They changed it while I wasn't looking again! In high school I
was told in no uncertain terms, it's straight As, not A's, it's SATs, not
SAT's, and now here's you, and this guy:
http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/a.html

Ya take your eyes off the grammar book for a measly ten or twenty years and
look what happens.
:-)

(G) So true, so often! I don't know whether this one has really changed,
but your point is well taken. This particular rule, for as long as I can
remember, has been that the apostrophe is used when needed to prevent
confusion. So it's in the I's and A's, but not necessarily in the SATs.

Of course, Jack Lynch's "house style" is the best answer. Accordingly,
SAT's and 1960's -- which Mr. Lynch abhors -- are fine by some
authorities and are optional, if not preferred, according to others.

To quote Mr. Lynch again, "The so-called rules of English grammar and
style were not spoken by a burning bush; they're just guidelines about
what's likely to be effective. If you learn to treat them that way,
you'll live a happier life." Sage advice, I think.

Jim