Now I know my ABC's

We all know you never use an apostrophe to make things plural. Bob the Angry Flower has explained this quite well. I refuse to go into it.

Anyway, there is one exception to this rule. It drives me insane, but there is one exception. Ready? Here goes.


The only time an apostrophe will make something plural: letters. For example:

There are two U's in the word "ukulele."
There is an endless supply of Q's in my Scrabble game.

Yes, my friends. These are correct sentences. When you are referring to letters, an apostrophe will indeed pluralize them (side note: "pluralize" is a real word). So when your 90-year-old grandma tells you to mind your P's and Q's, do not berate her for using apostrophes. Unfortunately, this is correct grammar. Also, your P's and Q's have been getting really out of hand lately. I'm glad someone finally spoke to you about this.

Here's when this doesn't apply: when you're not just referring to a letter. Watch:

"Birdemic" DVDs are a hot commodity these days.
Do people even buy CDs anymore?

See those strings of letters (DVDs, CDs)? See how they don't have apostrophes? The letters rule applies only to letters, not to acronyms. Do not make this mistake. Bob the Angry Flower is watching.

Also, my spies are everywhere.