Are We Getting Getting A Bit Too Anal Over The Humble Apostrophe?

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-40878110
Is it worth a bag to fix something that most won't even notice and even less give a rats plaster?

[dannyk13]

Surely it's Mr Jones's cat

[albaqwerty]

Mamya, there's another one ^^ lol

I know, I know, but I think it comes down to how our beloved English teachers taught us.

[bhg481]

danny - I think most people would say that (me included). Would anyone say "The boss' wife"? I certainly wouldn't, definitely "boss's wife" for me.

[Mamyalynne]

'Oh look there's that cat from number 32.'

[albaqwerty]

Must admit, I'd say the boss's wife or even the boss's husband.

[Mamyalynne]

Wife is the boss usually.

[chelle7272]

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/northern-ireland-council-forced-to-spend-1000-to-correct-rogue-charles-dickens-apostrophe-a3608296.html

[dannyk13]

Alba you would be correct as per TTT's link.

[Khandro]

//Should that be rats' plaster ?//

Think of it as Tom' (hi) s book or if you will the rat'(hi)s plaster - whatever that means

[albaqwerty]

I love language with all the quirks and foibles it brings

[Khandro]

//Surely it's Mr Jones's cat //
That's certainly OK but looks clumsy, Mr Jones' cat is neater.

[dannyk13]

It might be neater but it implies that all people called Mr Jones own a cat.

[geevo]

Mr jones' cat and Mr Jones's cat are both correct. Publishers use a house style manual so that usage is consistent.

Some well-known examples
St Thomas' Hospital
St James' Park ( Newcastle)
St James's Park (London)

[MargoTester]

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp

Quite a long read but it's worth a look

[dannyk13]

I was taught at school that to show possession to a person or thing ending with an s then the correct grammar is s's

[MargoTester]

Me too Danny. As Khandro said Mr Jones(hi)'s

[albaqwerty]

cor, Danny, I was taught the opposite!!

[bhg481]

yes danny, so was I but since then the "time and motion men" (bean counters) have moved in and shown how much time/paper/ink is saved by not having the second S.

[albaqwerty]

on a completely different note, changing a word to a plural when it ends in y
'change the y to i and add es'

[youngmafbog]

Well an effort should be made to get it correct but if its wrong on something already printed like this then just leave it.