Sunday, June 14, 2009

For Grammar Geeks Only (Part 2)

6. How should you capitalize headlines?

    a. capitalize all words
    b. don't capitalize articles and prepositions

Example:

    a. A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum
    b. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Staples Center

How should you capitalize headlines?
capitalize all words
don't capitalize articles and prepositions
  
pollcode.com free polls

7. How should you pluralize an Arabic numeral?

    a. add an "s"
    b. add an apostrophe and "s"

Example:

    a. I wish I had made it out to a Las Vegas 51s game.
    b. When in Vegas, who has time for a 51's game?

How should you pluralize an Arabic numeral?
add an "s"
add an apostrophe and "s"
  
pollcode.com free polls

8. Should these terms be compound words or hyphenated?

    a. compound: changeup, lineup, strikeout
    b. hyphenated: change-up, line-up, strike-out

Example:

    a. Dodger relievers made it into the lineup early last night, throwing few changeups and getting only one strikeout.
    b. Facing the heart of the opposing line-up, C-Wade and Tron-Tron threw change-ups to J-Mart for strike-outs.

Should these terms be compound words or hyphenated?
compound: changeup, lineup, strikeout
hyphenated: change-up, line-up, strike-out
  
pollcode.com free polls

9. How should you refer to the highest level of minor-league baseball?

    a. AAA
    b. Class AAA
    c. triple-A
    d. Triple-A

Example:

    a. The Dodgers' AAA team is the Albuquerque Isotopes.
    b. Before that, the Dodgers' Class AAA team was the Las Vegas 51s/51's.
    c. Before that, the Dodgers' triple-A team was the Albuquerque Dukes.
    d. Before that, the Dodgers' Triple-A team was the Spokane Indians.
    e. Someone needs to update this Wikipedia page: Los Angeles Dodgers Minor League Affiliations.

How should you refer to the highest level of minor-league baseball?
AAA
Class AAA
triple-A
Triple-A
  
pollcode.com free polls

10. How should teams with singular names be treated?

    a. in the singular
    b. in the plural

Example:

    a. The Magic is toast.
    b. The Magic are toast.

How should teams with singular names be treated?
in the singular
in the plural
  
pollcode.com free polls

Looking for the first five questions? For Grammar Geeks Only (Part 1)

5 comments:

rbnlaw said...

Youse guys is really pushing my button's.

Seriously, it seems some of today's questions have multiple answers depending on what the Harvard Style Guide says. On capitializing prepositions and articles; articles never, except at the beginning of the title or headline, and prepositions over three letters are capitalized.
Ex: Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. The preposition "between" is capitalized.

Open, closed, and hyphenated compounds are tricky and open to various spellings.

Amanda said...

I can see both "change-up" and "changeup," but the other two are strictly compound words to me...although Ogden Nash wouldn't agree with me ("Line-Up for Yesterday").

Also, I updated the Wikipedia page. It hadn't been touched in over a year! Not even to be vandalized! I am shocked.

Eric Karros said...

Here are my thoughts on this one:

1) Pluralized numbers are apostrophe'd: "Man, her outfit is skimpy - where on earth did she put all my 20's?"

2) I agree with Amanda on all counts regarding compound words.

3) The highest level of minor-league baseball is most commonly referred to as 'The Washington Nationals.'

DanGarion said...

Is the 51 actually pluralized? I was thinking that was showing possession. Since it's the 51's game. Also aren't the 51s already called the 51s? Which would actually make it the 51s' game?

But what do I know, I'm not a grammar geek. :)

Josh said...

The AP Stylebook says that figures do not get apostrophes before the plural S. So, according to the AP, the proper form is:

Las Vegas 51s.

The Stylebook gives some examples: "The custom began in the 1920s. The airline has two 727s. Themperatures will be in the low 20s. There were five size 7s."

They also note that the lack of apostrophes in these cases is "an exception to Webster's New World guideline." (The AP usually defers to Webster's.)

Let it be clear. If you are following the AP Stylebook (and virtually all newspapers do), apostrophes are never used to pluralize, with the ONLY exception being pluralization of single letters. The Oakland A's. Mind your p's and q's. He had four A's and two B's on his report card.

For the record, the AP says "change-up" (when used as a noun or adjective), but it doesn't mention the term in the usage guidelines for sports. Also: When used as a noun, "lineup" is a single word with no dash.