Do's and Dont's

Q:

Dear Grammer Cop,

This is driving me nuts- I see it everywhere. What is the rule for using apostrophe s when you aren't showing possession?

For example, everyone in my office uses the phrase "to do's" for a list of tasks they have. Wouldn't it be "to dos"?
I just received a "do's and don'ts" list from my recycling service—shouldn't it be "dos and don'ts," or am I wrong?

I'm not sure why I care so much, but I need to know!!

--Jane

A:

Dear Jane,

According to most style guides, phrases like "to dos" are simply plural, but may add an apostrophe for aesthetics or to avoid confusion, much like the hyphen one adds to "co-workers" so that folks aren’t wondering why people are "orking" cows (which may be illegal in some states).

There really isn’t any hard and fast set of generally accepted forms, although “to do’s” pops up a lot. My personal preference is "to-do’s".

I think the thing to consider is whether the pronunciation follows naturally from the form, or if the plural takes it’s pronunciation from the base. For example, "dos" would likely be pronounced "doss", not "dues", if it weren’t constructed from the base of "do".

Hope this helps!