The Mayor ,'End of Days'
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
What piece of primary source material from the American Revolution do you think would be most useful for a class learning how to interpret historical information?
Perhaps the diary of Joseph Plumb Martin [link] , or the letters that John and Abigail Adams wrote each other.
Botching singular possessives that end in "s" and/or plural possessives
I still haven't figured out that one.
Botching singular possessives that end in "s" and/or plural possessives
Now that I check my sources, the former actually is subject to interpretation--some say "James's book" is correct, others "James' book." I prefer the former, but will accept, grumbling, that opinions differ.
For a plural possessive, all you have to do is stick the apostrophe on the end--e.g. "students' books." But I've seen it done wrong more than right lately, and at a recent critique session, someone in my RWA chapter tried to correct me when I had it right.
The rule of thumb I use is that if I sound it out and hear the "'s", then it should be there. I suspect that my methodology is flawed, though.
Now that I check my sources, the former actually is subject to interpretation--some say "James's book" is correct, others "James' book." I prefer the former, but will accept, grumbling, that opinions differ.I hate the former. I don't like how it sounds. I don't like how it looks. I wonder if there are 3rd grade grammar teachers responsible for our difference in opinion.
Thanks for the link Tommyrot. I'm embarking on a new push to finish writing my book and I'm ashamed to realize I routinely employ ALL those mistakes.
Good timing!
Ooh! They're talking about the monkey-shit-coffee on CSI!
I wonder if there are 3rd grade grammar teachers responsible for our difference in opinion.
Quite probably. I think I learned my way from Strunk & White, too, though I can't find my copy to prove it.
It could be worse; we could be British, and consequently perplexed by every plural noun and whether it needs an apostrophe. Hint: Jeffs means more than one Jeff, while Jeff's means belonging to Jeff. (I gather a lot of Brits, especially those who work in advertising, don't know that.)
Whereas, both Jeffs' and Jeffs's means belonging to more than one Jeff. (I think the typographical issue of single and double quote marks is what caused there to be two right answers. Unlike Cindy, I prefer Jeffs's because of its doubling-up: you can tell just by looking that it's both plural and possessive. Admittedly, it's clunky, but who doesn't love teh clunky??)
If Jeffs were a last name, it could be Jeffses' meaning belonging to more than one member of the Jeffs family. Just be glad I didn't start this discussion with the name Sassafras.
Not to confuse the issue too much.
Stuntcasting alert!
Next week's Cold Case has Barry Bostwick guest-starring in a murder case revolving around, you guessed it!
A midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show!