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

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

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

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.)

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

Tuomas (xp)

Tuomas's baby v. Tuomas' baby

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

the baby formerly in the care of Tuomas

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)

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

boysenberry is that your favorite flavor

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

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

boy'sandberry is your favourite flavour

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)

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

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

never mind the bollocks's steel toecaps

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

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.

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

I like OH NOES's link

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

oh god:

http://webdesignledger.com/tips/common-typography-mistakes-apostrophes-versus-quotation-marks

urge to kill rising

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

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

.
.

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE

I just zoomed in and THERE IS

's every time, everything else is preciousness

I never do s's

looks really weird

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)

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

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.