2

Possible Duplicate:
What is the correct way to pluralize an acronym?

What's the plural form of the acronym POC, short for proof of concept?

...for his contributions to many POCs

or

...for his contributions to many POC

What is the correct way to pluralize an acronym? is not a duplicate as it is focused on cases like "ATMs" where the expanded form "automated teller machines" ends in a noun with a regular plural form ending in "s." In "proof of concept," the noun is in the middle of the abbreviated phrase. If we pluralize the uncontracted phrase, we get "proofs of concept," which has an "s" in the middle rather than at the end. It's unclear from the linked answers how abbreviations with this structure should be pluralized. (POC, POCs, PsOC?)

Community
  • 1
HanuAthena
  • 963
  • 1
    It's an acronym, right? Aren't there already other topics about plural with acronyms? I can't seem to find any but I remember I saw some :| – Alenanno May 03 '11 at 07:08
  • 1
    There are many meaning of POC, I think that you have to specify which one you are using in order for the question to get a specific answer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POC – Guffa May 03 '11 at 07:51
  • @Guffa: he linked to the correct one, proof of concept – nico May 03 '11 at 07:55
  • @nico: He did? Yes, you are right, when I know that there might be a link, it's possible to hover around on the text to find it... Who picked the color for the links? :P – Guffa May 03 '11 at 08:35
  • @sumelic Its all in the pronunciation. If POC is an acronym, pronounced "pock" or "pee-oh-see", then the question is an exact duplicate of the ATM question. (Add an "s" at the end.) If POC is strictly an abbreviation, pronounced "proof of concept", the plural is "proofs of concept" and the plural form has no good abbreviation. (Write it out.) – MetaEd Jun 23 '16 at 22:07
  • @MετάEd: Even if the ultimate answer is the same ("add an "s" at the end"), it's not a duplicate if it requires an explanation like your comment in addition to the answers at the linked question. If it's a duplicate, the answers should speak for themselves. For what it's worth, I came across this question because of a new question that was posted, which now seems to have an actually good answer with citations: Pluralizing abbreviations where first word is the object Perhaps this question could be marked as a duplicate of the newer one... – herisson Jun 23 '16 at 22:29
  • Ah, yes, the mothers-in-law / passersby problem.   Other examples: MC (master of ceremonies), POV (point of view). – Scott - Слава Україні Jun 24 '16 at 00:17
  • PsOC, MsIL, and PsOV simply do not work... – Mari-Lou A Jun 24 '16 at 04:53

1 Answers1

0

POCs is ok.

To pluralise an abbreviation (or number) just add an "s" to the end.

masarah
  • 2,732
  • Isn't it normal to add apostrophe's to all the word's you pluralize, even when they're not acronym's? – Golden Cuy May 03 '11 at 08:06
  • 3
    @Andrew Grimm: No. – Guffa May 03 '11 at 08:36
  • @AndrewGrimm: Nor in apostrophe's, word's or acronym's for that matter. – Kris Jan 04 '12 at 09:03
  • Do you have any citation to back up this answer? – herisson Jun 23 '16 at 21:29
  • @sumelic Just checking that you realize this is a post from 2011 that you are commenting on. – MetaEd Jun 23 '16 at 22:08
  • @MετάEd: yep, I know. The poster might conceivably respond at some point. Anyway, it will make me feel better if I downvote. – herisson Jun 23 '16 at 22:16
  • @sumelic Ok. See also my comment on your edit on the question. – MetaEd Jun 23 '16 at 22:16
  • @sumelic I think it unfair to downvote an answer, which is not technically wrong, because it does not offer any supporting evidence. The post was written in 2011 in a time when authoritative references were not expected or insisted by the community. I believe the first DV was due to a misspelling, which was later corrected. – Mari-Lou A Jun 24 '16 at 04:57
  • @Mari-LouA: I don't know if it's unfair or not. But I don't think the answer is useful. You say it is not technically wrong, but I didn't have any way of knowing that based on the information in the post. Anyway, my downvote is now locked unless it is edited at some point. – herisson Jun 24 '16 at 06:10