Re: Apostrophes

[Telsa Gwynne <hobbit aloss ukuu org uk>]

On Tue, Apr 06, 2004 at 03:45:11PM +0100 or thereabouts, Matthew Revell wrote:
> Howdy all,
> 
> I'm reading through the GNOME Documentation Style Guide V1.3 and have a 
> question, regarding apostrophe usage.
> 
> On the page titled"Grammar and Usage Guidelines", there is an entry, 
> which reads:
> 
> "Apostrophe
> 
> Rules
> 
> * Do not use apostrophes to denote possession.
> * Do not use apostrophes to denote contractions.
> * Do not use apostrophes to denote plurals."
> 
> The last of these I can agree with, but I'm a little confused by the 
> first two. Are they a mistake?

Probably connected to "How to Write for Translation" guidelines 
elsewhere in the guide, which includes sections called 
"Use of the Saxon genitive" and "Use of contractions"

Both make life harder for non-native speakers and readers of
English, I gather.

Telsa