Bill,
Your post on my email list was surrounded by the usual spam.  Directly following your line was one from Lands' End ("Stock up on Women's Turtlenecks").  Yes, Lands'.  I once wrote to them, at the behest of my class, to ask about their apostrophe.  They explained, via form letter, that the original sign painter or printer (or whoever) had made the mistake--and they decided to retain it as their signature.

And then there's Howard Johnson's, which was officially changed to Howard Johnsons.  I wonder if Howard himself is now plural!

Martha







As one of my previous posts probably indicated, I tend to reach for The Chicago Manual of Style to resolve punctuation questions; it acknowledges some of the variation in editorial practice on the apostrophe issue (I do, however, point out to journalism majors in my classes that the AP style is different, and that they'd best follow that one).
 
Last spring, as part of the discussion of apostrophes, I put a copy of the relevant section from the Manual up on the overhead simply as an example of what a detailed attempt to approach the issue could look like. One of the students noticed the section that stated that Jesus and Moses constituted exceptions, in that - because of established practice - they just get the apostrophe, even though the Manual recommends apostrophe + s for most other cases with stem-final -s. She then asked a question that got the class actually engaged in the discussion: "Do we just use the apostrophe for Jesus Jesus, or do we do that with other people named Jesus too?"  I told them I had absolutely no idea, and then asked them to argue both sides of the issue. Now if only something similarly interesting would happen with the semicolonŠ.
 
Bill Spruiell
 
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University
 
 
 
 
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of STAHLKE, HERBERT F
Sent: Thursday, October 04, 2007 9:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Britney Spears' talent--or Britney Spears's talent?
 
As Dick's examples of variation indicate, both forms are found widely.  I was taught, a half century ago, which is no evidence of authority, to use only the apostrophe if the -s belonged to the stem.  However, the fact that in speech the two s so frequently reduce to one reflects a common phonological process called haplology, by which a sequence of two identical or similar forms reduces to one, as in "probably" > "probly."
 
Herb
 
First an anecdote. Then a topic.
 
The anecdote: My wife and I often pass a used-car lot with a big sign that reads LARRYS' (ending in an apostrophe). In our smug, professorial way, we assumed that the owner was confused about punctuation, and we jokingly referred to the place as Larry-ziz. As we later learned, the lot is owned by two guys named Larry, who knew their punctuation after all. We still call it Larry-ziz, though.
 
The topic: English usage mavens are divided about the treatment of possessive nouns ending in s. Style sheets all agree that a word ending in plural -s takes only an apostrophe for the possessive: the families' homes, several students' homework.
 
They are not in agreement, however, about the possessive form of nonplural nouns ending in s. Do you add just an apostrophe or apostrophe + s? Is it "Britney Spears' monumental talent" or "Britney Spears's monumental talent"? Some style sheets stipulate apostrophe + s for short nouns (Lois's friends) and only apostrophe for longer ones (Socrates' death). The division among authorities in this matter means places a burden on faculty. So what do we teach?
 
On the grounds that simple is better than complicated, I tell students to use a sound test. If you hear the iz sound in such words, add 's. Otherwise, just apostrophe. So it's Ms. Jones's house (pronounced Jones-iz). But what's the possessive of Socrates? If you say "Sock-ra-teez-iz death," then it's Socrates's; if you say "Sock-ra-teez death," then it's just Socrates'. By the way, I understand there is a St. James's Park in London (pronounced with the iz) and a St. James' Park in Newcastle (no iz).
 
Of course apostrophe use is never simple. Consider, for example, 'Do's and Don'ts." But that's another topic.
 
Dick Veit
________________________________
Richard Veit
Department of English
University of North Carolina Wilmington
 
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