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Lately I have been listening to a local morning show, the sports analyst for this show, when referring to "Runs Batted In", always says (Rs - B - I) instead of (R - B - Is). I shudder every time I hear this because it just doesn't sound correct. What is the proper way to say this and why?

Andrew Besag
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    It is definitely RBIs. /'arbiyayz/ – John Lawler Oct 14 '15 at 21:05
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    That sports analyst really ought to get out of baseball and into auto racing. Then he could talk about MsPH and engine RsPM. – Sven Yargs Oct 14 '15 at 23:20
  • Not a duplicate! The flagged duplicate question is about pluralising an acronym (/initialisation) which is singular. This question is about an acronym (/initialisation) which has a plural within it (i.e. not the last word in its expanded form). Definitely worthy of a separate question in my opinion. (If only I could vote to reopen!) – AndyT Oct 15 '15 at 14:14

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I regard the acronym as a condensed version of the original. As such it has the status of a new noun and should be pluralised as such: RBIs.

Anton
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  • But if the R stands for "runs", then surely RBI is already a plural noun? – AndyT Oct 15 '15 at 14:15
  • I think it neater and easier to take the view that the basic concept is of a singular run batted in, or RBI. The plural is then RBIs. – Anton Oct 16 '15 at 07:04