Timeline for Which singular names ending in “s” form possessives with only a bare apostrophe?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
17 events
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| Nov 18, 2023 at 22:47 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | 'Rule' according to the dictionaries I've just consulted defaults to 'an accepted principle or instruction that states the way things are or should be done' (CD). 'Rule of thumb' I've no problem at all with. In fact, otherwise, your answer is very sound advice. 'Write your own answer' precludes people pointing out how good answers can be bettered, (unless 98% duplication is now allowed). | |
| Nov 18, 2023 at 18:59 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | @EdwinAshworth Please write your own answer detailing why you think my first sentence about the best rule of thumb is somehow ‘wrong’. Standards change, and as I’ve explained elsewhere there has never been universal understanding or agreement of how apostrophes work. I’ve given the current best advice per multiple style guides. I ᴡɪʟʟ not become entangled with legal matters of trademark preservation (like how one ‘must’ write Encyclopædia Britannica with that ligature) or with the identity politics of preserving þᵉ olde-tymey spellings that run counter to modern recommendations and reason. | |
| Nov 18, 2023 at 16:20 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | It's accepted usage. Not accepting it as correct is hyperprescriptivism. 'That's not all there is to it': established usage trumps convenient rules where they conflict. | |
| Nov 18, 2023 at 15:39 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | @EdwinAshworth I have no obligation to account for the mistakes of others. | |
| Nov 18, 2023 at 11:46 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | I see you haven't addressed this exception. Both the spelling and the pronunciation of St Thomas' Hospital (London) are established by practice. | |
| Apr 3, 2017 at 16:00 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | St Thomas' Hospital (London) is still pronounced with three syllables. | |
| Oct 17, 2015 at 18:46 | history | edited | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Dec 21, 2014 at 5:35 | comment | added | Peter Shor | Shakespeare seems to have generally used the rule: don't add the /-əz/ when the word ends with an /s/ or /z/ in an unstressed syllable. He uses house's but alehouse'. | |
| Dec 21, 2014 at 4:45 | history | edited | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
learn to count
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| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:47 | history | edited | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:39 | history | edited | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:30 | comment | added | tchrist♦ | @TecBrat That sounds like Gollum’s fisheses. :) | |
| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:26 | comment | added | TecBrat | For non-native speakers, one might hear "Jameseses's" etc. in jest. Don't be too thrown off by it. | |
| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:24 | history | edited | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:23 | vote | accept | aaazalea | ||
| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:19 | history | edited | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Aug 22, 2012 at 3:13 | history | answered | tchrist♦ | CC BY-SA 3.0 |