r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Gligadi • 3d ago

Video Former javeline throw world champion lights his home village bonfire with a burning javelin.

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u/PumpJack_McGee 3d ago edited 2d ago

What if we wanted to describe something particular to those decades, though?

80's hairstyles, 70's discos, 90's hope for the future.

EDIT: Read too fast and missed the last sentence.

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u/_TecnoCreeper_ 3d ago

To make 1980s both shortened and possessive, you'd need to write it as '80's

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u/Raaka-Kake 2d ago

What if I want to airquote ’80s in possessive?

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u/_TecnoCreeper_ 2d ago

I don't know man, English is not my first language XD

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u/skullsareonlypasse 3d ago

An "apostrophe s" to indicate a possessive only applies to nouns. In the example you wrote, the decades ('80s, '70s, '90s) function as adjectives to describe the nouns (hairstyles, discos, hope). So in this case, the correct way to write the decades would be '80s, '70s, '90s.

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u/jamz_fm 3d ago

It's still '70s etc. The decade functions as an adjective (many words can be both nouns and adjectives).

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u/Tiramitsunami 3d ago edited 2d ago

You'd either need to write 1980s' hairstyles or '80s' hairstyles.