It is great fun to be at a meeting of English professors trying to decide
whether or not the students on the English Majors Society tee-shirt
committee need to put an apostrophe on the new shirt they are about to
order. We finally decided that since the national EMS organization treats it
as an attributive noun and not as a possessive, we would, too. 

But oh, the lively discussion!

Nancy

Nancy L. Tuten, PhD
Professor of English
Director of the Writing-across-the-Curriculum Program
Columbia College
Columbia, South Carolina
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803-786-3706
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gregg Heacock
Sent: Saturday, June 03, 2006 1:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Possessive form

Scott,
	I had a practical problem like that.  We started up an Immersion  
Parents Committee.  Was it a committee made up of parents or one  
belonging to them?  It may parallel the relationship of a "wood  
statue" and a "wooden statue," but I see it more as divided by which  
question each answers:  "Does it tell which committee or what kind of  
committee?"  I think it is more meaning-based than form-based.
	I'd be curious to know which form people think would be appropriate

to a committee.
		Gregg

On Jun 2, 2006, at 8:28 PM, Scott Lavitt wrote:

> Dear list,
>
> As callers say on radio talk shows, "long time
> [listener], first time [caller]." I've been following
> the interesting topics on this list for a few years,
> since a prof in grad school recommended it.
>
> Will someone please clarify for me which is the proper
> possessive form in the sentence "NickJr.com is a
> kid's/kids' website"?
>
> I'm trying to see the difference between an
> attributive quality, such as Presidents Day (a day
> _for_ presidents) and a possessive quality, such as
> Father's Day (a day _of_ fathers).
>
> My inclination is that TV programming for kids
> (plural) is "kids' programming," just like a rest room
> for men is a "men's room," not a man's room. Another
> example, of course, is "women's room." So one would
> say a website for children, such as Nickjr.com, is a
> children's website, right? Therefore, if a more casual
> term for children is "kids," isn't it a "kids'"
> website?
>
> Even though I've investigated a couple of my favorite
> grammar books on the subject--Googled for examples
> too--my current understanding of the matter is
> evidenced above.
>
> Respondents, thank you very much for your time.
>
> Scott
>
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