When drafting a professional email, the final proofing stage often reveals a nagging doubt: is it cc'd or cc'ed? This seemingly minor detail holds weight, as getting the terminology right reinforces credibility and attention to detail. The question touches on the broader challenge of forming possessives and past participles for acronyms that are pronounced as words, where standard grammatical rules for apostrophes and suffixes collide with modern digital communication norms.
The Evolution of Email Etiquette
The term "cc" originates from the typewriter era, where letters were carbon copied to send copies to additional recipients without creating a new document. As email adopted this function, the abbreviation carried over, but its grammatical treatment became ambiguous. Traditionalists view "cc" as a string of letters, requiring an apostrophe for possession, like any other noun. Conversely, modern usage suggests that because "cc" is now a verb meaning to send a copy, it follows the standard pattern for forming past participles by adding "ed" without an apostrophe, resulting in "cc'ed."
Arguments for the Apostrophe
The primary argument for "cc'd" stems from the need to distinguish the verb form from the noun. By inserting an apostrophe, writers clarify that "cc'd" is a contraction or modified verb, not a random string of characters. This approach aligns with how other initialisms are handled; for instance, "p'd" is used for "petted" to show the past tense clearly. Proponents argue that "cc'd" prevents visual clutter and signals to the reader that the action of copying has been completed, maintaining a formal tone in business correspondence.
The Case Against the Apostrophe
Opponents of the apostrophe argue that it introduces unnecessary complexity and looks awkward. They point out that other digital terms like "texted" or "emailed" do not require special characters to denote the past tense. Since "cc" is universally understood as a verb in the context of email, adding an apostrophe is seen as a redundant relic of older grammar rules. This camp prefers "cced" for its cleaner appearance and alignment with contemporary English trends, where acronyms are increasingly treated as standard verbs without special punctuation.
Style Guides and Digital Standards
Major style guides offer little explicit direction on this specific issue, leaving room for interpretation. The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, a dominant force in journalism, generally favors minimal punctuation, which might lean toward "cced." However, in the absence of a definitive ruling, organizations develop their own internal style standards. Consistency within a company or publication is often valued more than adherence to a universal rule, meaning that the "correct" form is frequently the one approved by the specific style guide the writer is following.
