One of my grammatical heroes, the late columnist James J. Kilpatrick, who wrote
prolifically and cogently on language usage, subscribed to the belief that one
should use the s's when it _sounds_ correct, and the s' when s's doesn't sound
correct. An example would be the former barbarian senator from North Carolina,
Sen. Jesse Helms. He was always the subject of possessives. If you sound it
out, you get Helmses, in which case you would use Helms's. It just sounds more
natural. Our current topic, Kangaroos, on the other hand, would sound better
with the s'. Kangarooses just doesn't sound right.
--Bob Whitmire
Certified Neanderthal
On Nov 19, 2013, at 5:56 PM, Chris Trask wrote:
> Would the possessive plural of 'roos be 'roos' or 'roos's?
--
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