(Untitled)

[nannyo]

Question o' the day: what is the grammatically correct plural of c.v.? Do I go for curriculum vitae? Or some odd variation on c.v. with an added s? One way looks like an american pharmacy chain, the other rings all of my WRRRRONG! alarm bells

Comments

[innerbrat]

Wouldn't it be curricula vitae?

[nannyo]

I don't know! I think it's curriculum vitae, cos it's the story of their lives, one story for each life, but I'm not 100%. Argh.

Also, my cv looks embarrassingly like I'm applying for a junior researcher position, as opposed to tendering for a project. Time for a rewrite, I think!

[innerbrat]

There's more than one story, though, if it's plural. Stories of their lives.

OTOH, pluralising CV is one of those occasions where it is perfectly correct to use an apostrophe in pluralisation.

C.V.s
c.v.'s
cv's
CVs

I prefer the last one.

[nmg]

No, the singular is 'curriculum vitae' (the course of a life - vitae is genetive singular).

The plural is either 'curricula vitae' (the courses of a life) or 'curricula vitarum' (the course of lives). The preference seems to be for the former.

[curiouserg]

That is a great question. I have no idea. Let me check the Chicago Manual....

According to the golden nook, "To avoid confusion, lowercase letters and abbreviations with two or more interior periods or with both capital and lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an s"

So, c.v.'s

I love the Chicago Manual of Style. It can answer almost any question.

[curiouserg]

of course, that should read "golden book," not nook.