congress' approval vs. congress's approval: a thread to hash out the possessive 's s'

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possibly leading to a poll

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:06 (twelve years ago) link

congressional approval

OH NOES, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:09 (twelve years ago) link

also: approval of Congress

OH NOES, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:10 (twelve years ago) link

shhh no rewriting allowed

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:13 (twelve years ago) link

congress', other looks ssiillyy

Derek Pringles (Deep in the Tony Hart land), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:14 (twelve years ago) link

congress's approval. I wouldn't write "Charles' socks" because my name isn't Charle and there's only one of me.

dog latin, but cool (dog latin), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:16 (twelve years ago) link

And one sock

Derek Pringles (Deep in the Tony Hart land), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:18 (twelve years ago) link

almost always Congress'.i don't apply hard and fast rules but the additional 's' usually looks twee/comical.

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:18 (twelve years ago) link

then again, I think it's down to how you'd pronounce it, i.e. "Julie Andrews' comeback".

dog latin, but cool (dog latin), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:19 (twelve years ago) link

but you guys pronounce it as "congress's" right

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:22 (twelve years ago) link

feel free to bring up other problem 's's too

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:23 (twelve years ago) link

Congress's. There's no reason to drop the possessive "s" just because there are already two in a row.

(I will note, however, that my office style guide offers a few exceptions for this rule, usually involving single-named historical figures such as Jesus, Moses, and Ramses.)

jaymc, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:26 (twelve years ago) link

i wd probly pronounce it "congress's" if i was using that construction but i always end up exaggerating the additional "s" cos it sounds wrong. also written English not exactly matching spoken English sir prize sir prize

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:26 (twelve years ago) link

Tuomas (xp)

Derek Pringles (Deep in the Tony Hart land), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:27 (twelve years ago) link

Tuomas's baby v. Tuomas' baby

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:28 (twelve years ago) link

oh I see there's a Christopher Hitchens's poll

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:28 (twelve years ago) link

the baby formerly in the care of Tuomas

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:29 (twelve years ago) link

googling around I thought this made sense: boys' ball (a ball owned by two or more boys) v. boy's ball (a ball owned by one boy)

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:29 (twelve years ago) link

maybe you would say boys's ball in the first case idk

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:30 (twelve years ago) link

boysenberry is that your favorite flavor

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:30 (twelve years ago) link

Jesus's Blood Never Failed Me Yet
Levi Stubbs's Tears

los krampusinos! (pomplamau5), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:31 (twelve years ago) link

yeah boys' vs boy's but that's simple singular vs plural, the issue here is with singular words that end with "s"

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:32 (twelve years ago) link

boy'sandberry is your favourite flavour

Derek Pringles (Deep in the Tony Hart land), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:32 (twelve years ago) link

hah, I had never known the concrete codified form of that rule

the cats' litter box (but would you pronounce it cats or cats's)

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:33 (twelve years ago) link

pronounce it cats unless i was trying to be "cute"

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:33 (twelve years ago) link

In which case a steel toecap to the bollocks would be appropriate

Derek Pringles (Deep in the Tony Hart land), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:38 (twelve years ago) link

never mind the bollocks's steel toecaps

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:38 (twelve years ago) link

http://www.englishrules.com/writing/2005/possessive-form-of-singular-nouns-ending-with-s/

trying to figure out how to use the phrase "the possessive Jesus’" in every conversation I have today

OH NOES, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:41 (twelve years ago) link

i like how that blog gives "the general rule" and then 5 lines down quotes Since writers vary in the use of the apostrophe, it is not possible to make a hard and fast rule about the apostrophe in singular words ending in s.

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:42 (twelve years ago) link

i meant to say, my version here isn't what i consider to be the law, it's just how i learned to do this/how it seems most pleasing to my eyes/ears

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:44 (twelve years ago) link

I like OH NOES's link

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:44 (twelve years ago) link

Except in all examples it uses an opening single quote instead of an apostrophe.

ledge, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:46 (twelve years ago) link

urge to kill rising

Angles that bitch (Julie Lagger), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:54 (twelve years ago) link

does my keyboard even HAVE an apostrophe key vs. a single quote key

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:54 (twelve years ago) link

are there people out there who can tell when the . should be italicized and when it's not

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:55 (twelve years ago) link

.
.

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:55 (twelve years ago) link

I just zoomed in and THERE IS

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 15:56 (twelve years ago) link

's every time, everything else is preciousness

bloating forecast: ruff swells (p much resigned to deems), Friday, 16 December 2011 16:08 (twelve years ago) link

I never do s's

looks really weird

iatee, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:17 (twelve years ago) link

googling around I thought this made sense: boys' ball (a ball owned by two or more boys) v. boy's ball (a ball owned by one boy)

And Beuys's ball (a ball owned by Joseph Beuys)

jaymc, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:43 (twelve years ago) link

Boise's ball (a ball owned by the city of Boise)

nice catch cuauhtemoc blanco niño (dayo), Friday, 16 December 2011 16:44 (twelve years ago) link

While I am well aware of the approved standard I was taught as a lad, this is definitely a standard I think ought to be rescinded. Every way of handling a possessive "s" following a terminal "s" will be ugly, but at least "Charles's" has the twin virtues of being easier to notice and easier to remember, because it isn't a deviation from the general rule.

Aimless, Friday, 16 December 2011 16:53 (twelve years ago) link


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