Circopedia talk:Manual of Style

From Circopedia

Plural Possessives

The "Philip Astley" page provides a good example. Do we go with Hughes', or with Hughes's? The former is used for most of the article, but in the last section it appears as "Hughes's." Personally, I prefer the latter, since in virtually all circumstances the extra -s is pronounced. We don't say "Hughes['] ampitheatre" (since that would sound just like "Hugh's ampitheatre"); we say "Hughes's ampitheatre." (Strunk & White agree with me on this, I think -- or should I say "I agree with them"? -- if their authority carries any weight.)

Numbers: Numerals vs. Spelling-Them-Out

We need some conventions for when numbers are spelled out and when they appear as numerals. Usually the conventions relate to how large the numbers are, e.g., spell out numbers between 0-100. I've also seen people want to spell out "two hundred" and "three hundred" but use numerals for "201" and "301." And with really big round numbers, they often appear as "1 thousand," "20 million" -- a sort of hybrid.

Dates

No problem when writing out whole dates, e.g., "December 2, 1974." But we should have some conventions for referring to decades, i.e., "the 60s" or "the sixties" or "the Sixties." I prefer the first option... though it's ugly in possessive form: "the 60s' counterculture."

Also for referencing spans of time, e.g., 1975-1980. I like the convention that would have us write "1975-80," "1975-77" (NOT 1975-7), and "1898-1902."