"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
On Tue, 20 Dec 2016 14:24:27 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
TimW wrote:
On 20/12/16 12:55, Tim+ wrote:


Fashions in the use of apostrophes have changed. As long as they
help
to clarify rather than confuse, precisely how they are used in any
particular situation relating to plurals seems to me to be of lesser
importance.

Tim

Totally wisdom from this Tim+. A nugget of truth in the dirty dull
swamp of ukdiy.
Tim W

I'd love either of you to explain this. How does adding an apostrophe
where not appropriate help clarity? An example would suffice.

How many i's are there in "initial"?

That is an appropriate use.

How many is are there in "initial"?

Without the apostrophe that sentence makes no sense. There is no such noun
as 'is'.

You'll have to try harder. ;-)

That is in fact a perfect example where the use of the
apostrophe helps clarify what the question is asking.