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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread apostrophe's #183537 03/13/2009 1:12 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 618 Australia doc_comfort addict doc_comfort addict Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 618 Australia Is it... The boss's car The boss' car Or something else And having typed it out and stared at it for 10 minutes, I'm much in favour of the former. Last edited by doc_comfort; 03/13/2009 1:37 AM. Reason: To negate questioning of my intelligence. :p Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's doc_comfort #183538 03/13/2009 1:47 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont yes formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's Buffalo Shrdlu #183539 03/13/2009 1:48 AM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont heh sorry, couldn't resist. I would go with the latter, just because three ss's in a row looks kinda silly. formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's Buffalo Shrdlu #183540 03/13/2009 2:15 AM Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 956 Auckland, New Zealand olly old hand olly old hand Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 956 Auckland, New Zealand The latter for me as well. The Boss' Car. Headmistressship was the only triple sss word I could come up with. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's olly #183541 03/13/2009 2:25 AM Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 618 Australia doc_comfort addict doc_comfort addict Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 618 Australia I'm happy with silly if it's right. My initial thinking was Boss', for the very reasons given. But everything I can find (via professor g) tells me that only mythical / relgious entities can skip the s, and that everyone else is stuck with it. Having struggled with the possessive of Davies (my surname) for 25 odd years, I thought it would be nice to know with *some certainly. And Bighard Word is no help... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's doc_comfort #183543 03/13/2009 3:07 AM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh I learned to use boss' when I was in grammar school, but nowadays they teach boss's. Go figure. I still tend to write it like I was l'arned. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's zmjezhd #183551 03/13/2009 10:19 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 I say, if you pronounce it "the boss car" go with 2. If you pronounce it "the bossiz car" go with 1. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's zmjezhd #183555 03/13/2009 2:55 PM Joined: Dec 2008 Posts: 107 USA, North Carolina PastorVon member PastorVon member Joined: Dec 2008 Posts: 107 USA, North Carolina Originally Posted By: zmjezhd I learned to use boss' when I was in grammar school, but nowadays they teach boss's. Go figure. I still tend to write it like I was l'arned. As there are protocols in politics, military, computers, ets., there are similar in grammar and language. In the USA, the newspaper industry has had a tremendous influence re: rules of grammar and spelling. The use of the apostrophe in possessives has been the cause of controversy. Isn't it the Chicago Style Manual that most American newspapers recognize as their standard? When I was in college (early 1960s), most American colleges used Harbrace for routine issues and Turabian for formal papers. But the Chicago style was beginning to intrude so that today it is predominant. Wonder what is going to happen as the hard-copy newspapers are having an increasingly difficult time of holding on to their share of the media market? BTW, I believe that boss' is pronounced as bosses as if it were spelled boss's. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's PastorVon #183572 03/13/2009 11:30 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Originally Posted By: PastorVon I believe that boss' is pronounced as bosses as if it were spelled boss's. That's as may be. It's not spelled as if it were pronounced as bosses. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's Faldage #183573 03/13/2009 11:32 PM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont are apostrophes spelling? formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's Faldage #183575 03/13/2009 11:52 PM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh It's not spelled as if it were pronounced as bosses. Oh, you want a "system" where things are spelt as they're writ? I see. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: apostrophe's zmjezhd #183577 03/14/2009 12:10 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Originally Posted By: zmjezhd It's not spelled as if it were pronounced as bosses. Oh, you want a "system" where things are spelt as they're writ? I see. Claro que sí. 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