1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Baseball style question

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by ColbertNation, Mar 19, 2007.

  1. Lollygaggers

    Lollygaggers Member

    This is also like the use of 'battle.' I've heard people say never use that because it's not really a battle, there's no military involved, etc. It's all about literal meaning with some people, which is sometimes good but not always.
     
  2. OK, so what do we do now?

    Is there a style guide for this stuff? I don't think it's in AP...
     
  3. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    Here's one I've argued about for years...

    Three days rest or three days' rest.
     
  4. joe_schmoe

    joe_schmoe Active Member

    Why?
     
  5. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Grammatically, the phrase should be "three days of rest."

    Apostrophes denote the omission of a letter or letters (usually). In this case, I think it could denote the omission of an entire two-letter word.

    Three days' rest.
     
  6. Joseph K.

    Joseph K. New Member

    Apostrophes usually denote the omission of a letter within a word, though, not a separate word.
     
  7. writing irish

    writing irish Active Member

    Is it plural possessive?
    Similar to the singular possessive "All in a day's work."
    Three days' rest?
     
  8. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    pitcher's duel. It is their duel.

    Three days rest.

    The omission of the preposition is understood, and I've never seen the apostrophe denote the omission of an entire word, merely part of a word.
     
  9. joe_schmoe

    joe_schmoe Active Member

    Okay. Now here's why I asked why.
    If you actually read the AP style guide in the punctuation section under apostrophes it addresses this. Specifically, look at QUASI POSSESSIVES.
    You'll have your answer.

    While I don't agree with the style myself, it is what the AP stylebook uses so unless your paper or editor has a specific rule against that, go with it.
     
  10. EStreetJoe

    EStreetJoe Well-Known Member

    I say pitchers' duel
     
  11. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]

    I'll take the Coors in this pitchers duel.
     
  12. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    The codas have spoken, and they carry more weight than any darned AP stylebook.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page