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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?)

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    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
    Commented May 3, 2011 at 7:08
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    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. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POC
    – Guffa
    Commented May 3, 2011 at 7:51
  • @Guffa: he linked to the correct one, proof of concept
    – nico
    Commented May 3, 2011 at 7:55
  • @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
    Commented May 3, 2011 at 8:35
  • @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
    Commented Jun 23, 2016 at 22:07

1 Answer 1

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POCs is ok.

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

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  • Isn't it normal to add apostrophe's to all the word's you pluralize, even when they're not acronym's?
    – Golden Cuy
    Commented May 3, 2011 at 8:06
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    @Andrew Grimm: No.
    – Guffa
    Commented May 3, 2011 at 8:36
  • @AndrewGrimm: Nor in apostrophe's, word's or acronym's for that matter.
    – Kris
    Commented Jan 4, 2012 at 9:03
  • Do you have any citation to back up this answer?
    – herisson
    Commented Jun 23, 2016 at 21:29
  • @sumelic Just checking that you realize this is a post from 2011 that you are commenting on.
    – MetaEd
    Commented Jun 23, 2016 at 22:08

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