Apostrophe Apostle

[mysid]

I am now the proud owner of a copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. The first time I read of this book's existence, I knew that I had to buy it.


I did get a slight shock on my first quick skim through the book. I'm one of those people who insist upon a comma before the "and" when listing three or more objects.
"The flag is red, white, and blue."

The author writes, "Probably the first thing you ever learn about commas, that they divide items in lists, but are not required before the and on the end."

Huh? Big sigh of relief as I continued to read. She explains that the comma before the "and" is called an Oxford Comma, is not considered standard in Britain (but is permitted), and is considered standard in the USA (where its omission is permitted). So, I have been doing it correctly--for an American.

I've only read half of the book so far, but I LOVED the chapter on apostrophes. Those poor little curves have so much work to do and are so abused. Is it really so hard to write, "Sirius is Remus's lover," instead of "Sirius is Remus' lover"? And may the militant pandas save us all from the people who write, "Sirius is Remus lover."

By the way, Sam, I loved Harry's apostrophe abuse in the latest chapter of Laocoon's Children and that Sirius comments upon the same!

Comments

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Okay, now I'm confused.

I was taught that if a word ended in any letter other than S, you added an apostrophe and an S:

EXAMPLE: James is Lily's husband.

However, if a word ended in S, you merely added an apostrophe:

EXAMPLE: Lily is James' wife.

This is what I was taught in English grammar for years. Now someone is saying that it is wrong?

As I said, I'm confused.

The basic rule is...

[mysid.livejournal.com]

To make a word possessive:
If a word is plural and ends in -s, add an apostrophe after the -s.
All other words, add an 's to the end of the word.

Examples:
child ---> child's
children ---> children's
boys ---> boys'
James ---> James's

There are a few exceptions to the rule (which Lynne Truss explains), but that's the rule of thumb when it comes to possession. I hope this is helpful.

Re: The basic rule is...

[eumenides1.livejournal.com]

Actually, to make things more confusing, when I was teaching English about 10 years ago, the text I used stated that if the word to be made possessive was the name of a biblical or mythological character (same thing in my book, generally) you just add ', e.g. Jesus' Porsche or Zeus' golf clubs.

And when I went to school, which I expect roughly coincides with when Gehayi went to school, we were taught not to add 's to the end of words ending in s, which is why I always write "James' balls" instead of "James's balls" Speaking, of course, about Quidditch.

Punctuation rules are quite fluid, really, and what you consider correct is highly dependent on where you were educated and when and even what style guide was being used, Chicago, MLA, APA, Strunk & White all have some slight differences in how they approach things, and that doesn't even take into consideration the whole issue of UK standards.

Re: The basic rule is...

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

I'm forty-one. I think we were in school at about the same time, yes.

Re: The basic rule is...

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Yes, punctuation rules are fluid, and yes, they do vary from one grammar text to another. Thus, on the rare occasion that I beta another's fic, if I see "James' balls," I withhold the red ink and say, "I guess she was taught differently."

However, it does make my skin crawl just a teensy bit. And the students I teach are taught the rule: "Add 's unless the word is plural and ends in -s, and then just add an apostrophe."

[mugglemommy.livejournal.com]

I saw this book today at Barnes & Noble and it caught my eye. So, worth getting?

[mugglemommy.livejournal.com]

Let me just add that it caught my eye because of the "Eats, shoots & Leaves" title. I totally missed the punctutation add-on. Clearly I have a dirty mind, cause I thought it was a racy, fiction book! ;-)

"Oh? What did you think it meant?"

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Hmm...that would be an intriguing title, wouldn't it? Perhaps you should write a fanfic by that title.

Is it worth buying? It is if you have "an inner stickler" aching to be heard, or if you find the following amusing:

"Pupil's Entrance (on a very selective school, presumably)
Adult Learner's Week (lucky him)
Member's May Ball (but with whom will the member dance?)"

Or this, when she learns that there is an Apostrophe Protection Society and that they send courteous correction letters to businesses who use apostrophes incorrectly on signs:

"Why did the Apostrophe Protection Society not have a militant wing? Could I start one? Where do you get balaclavas?"

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

Is it different for British English, though? I started using Sirius' and Remus' and James' and the rest because that's how they appear in the British editions of the first four books (not the fifth, curiously) and I was going for authenticity. *g*

British vs. American

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Well, Lynne Truss (the author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves) is very British, and she states that it should be "Remus's lover"; however, she also acknowledges that this is one area of apostrophe usage in which one cannot be too militant as there are militants arguing the virtues of "Remus' lover" with equal passion.

So, let's all just agree to gang up on the fools who stick apostrophes into words which are plural but not possesive, or who forget to include them altogether!

P.S. But I ask all of you who prefer "Remus's lover" and "James' balls," don't you hear the second s? I do.

Re: British vs. American

[mysid.livejournal.com]

P.P.S. I meant to write "Remus' lover" that last time, of course. Oops.

[fantomeq.livejournal.com]

Hi! Small world! I'm Fantome from ffnet, who reviewed all your stories ages ago.

I'm glad to see there's a definitively correct way to use apostrophes, and that I've been doing it right. Poor me had to have a maiden name that ended in "s" that resulted in much confusion--is it the "Diltses' House" for the family Dilts?

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Umm...unfortunately, yes. But we can the blame that awkwardness on pluralization rather than being possessive.