E-bay is retarded

[GOK]

I thought the correct punctuation for writing a decade would include an apostrophe as such: 1940's. The punctuation guide for Websters's New World Dictionary states that an apostrophe should be placed thus in forming the plural of letters or numbers, and 1940's. for example, refers to a multiple of years.

fftopic: I'm sorry to contradict both you and Webster's but the apostrophe is never used to denote plurals. When written thusly, 1940's, it is a posessive apostrophe, indicating something that belongs to the 1940s; e.g. 1940's style. However, if one wishes to be completely anal, it should actually be written, 1940s' because one is referring to something that belongs to all of the 1940s, not merely something belonging the year 1940.

The apostrophe is used however, to indicate a missing letter or number, e.g. the '40s.

 

[reetpleat]

fftopic: I'm sorry to contradict both you and Webster's but the apostrophe is never used to denote plurals. When written thusly, 1940's, it is a posessive apostrophe, indicating something that belongs to the 1940s; e.g. 1940's style. However, if one wishes to be completely anal, it should actually be written, 1940s' because one is referring to something that belongs to all of the 1940s, not merely something belonging the year 1940.

The apostrophe is used however, to indicate a missing letter or number, e.g. the '40s.

While you are right, I don't buy the belongs to angle.

You can say something belongs to an era, but not literally. It is not owned by it. My suit no more belongs to the 40s than my plate belongs to fiesta ware.

Also, if websters says number should be apostrophed, then I would suggest they mean something like "The 3's in this document all printed faintly, as well as all the r's."

If so, then even that argument would not apply to 1940s.

 

[Twitch]

I'll take it one step further and mention how retarded the whole internet is when it comes to search engine taxonomy. As much as they have improved they are still lame.

The software that drives Ebay's searches is the same as Google or Yahoo's in that a program can't out think us. They throw a bunch of manure on the wall with the most logicial 1st and hope we can sort it all out.:eusa_doh:

 

[Benny Holiday]

fftopic: I'm sorry to contradict both you and Webster's but the apostrophe is never used to denote plurals. When written thusly, 1940's, it is a posessive apostrophe, indicating something that belongs to the 1940s; e.g. 1940's style. However, if one wishes to be completely anal, it should actually be written, 1940s' because one is referring to something that belongs to all of the 1940s, not merely something belonging the year 1940.

The apostrophe is used however, to indicate a missing letter or number, e.g. the '40s.

Thanks GOK. The intricacies of the English language never cease to amaze me.