GRGR(5) Katje and the Nazis

[rj]

Doug:
> Well, if TRP wanted to insist on avoiding a reference to the SS, he would
> have used an apostrophe -- S's -- don't you think?
> "Finally, use the apostrophe when adding a grammatical ending to a number,
> letter, sign, or abbreviation:  1920's; his 3's look like 8's; p's and q's;
> he got four A's; too many of's and and's; she X'd each box; K.O.'d in the
> first round."
> --from _The Complete Stylist_, by Sheridan Baker, p. 165, published 1972
 
Michael:
> Nothing anyone
> has said in support of these references has been convincing to me,
> including pointing out the stylistic lack of an apostrophe in "Ss." 
> Personally I've never used apostrophes in cases like those mentioned,
> I've seen both usages, but the apostrophe is most often used for a
> possessive form of nouns or something standing in for a noun.

However and however,

"CAPITAL LETTERS

3.5 Form the plurals of most single and multiple capital letters used as
nouns by adding s alone:

     The three Rs are taught at the two YMCAs.

LETTERS AND ABBREVIATIONS

3.6 The plurals of letters, whether lower case or capital, are often
formed with an apostrophe and a roman s, but if the letter is italic or
underlined the plural may be formed by adding the roman s without the
apostrophe. Either style, of course, must be used consistently.

    All the examples were labeled by letter; the a's were tested 
    first, the b's second, and so on.

    The A's, I's and S's in the directory were checked by one group.

    ....

    The *A*s, *I*s and *S*s in the directory ... [where * * indicates 
    italics or underscoring]"

from TURABIAN, Kate L. _A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and
Dissertations_ (1937). 6th ed., 1996. University of Chicago. (Adapted
from the _Chicago Manual of Style_ 14th Edition. 1969, 1982, 1993.) pp.
40-1.

So, are the Ss in the text letters or nouns? Isn't a letter a noun? But
it's the shape of the letter being referred to, isn't it, so it's a
noun? Then again, it says "like Ss", which simile would seem to indicate
a reference to the letter where a metaphoric application would indicate
the shape itself as a thing. Why didn't Pynchon write "whose spokes are
Ss" or "S-shaped"? He does seem to have put the two letters deliberately
together like this, and it is an unusual configuration. Not that any of
this has any real bearing on the debate between Doug and Michael about
the ubiquity of the Holocaust in the opening dream sequence whatsoever.
But, the devil's in the details, as they say ...

best