June 15th 1936

[antarmike]

Barnes Wallis' Geodetic masterpiece the Vickers Wellington medium Bomber makes its maiden flight

Edited June 18, 2008 by antarmike

[antarmike]

Four days later another Vickers bomber make it's first flight...The Wellesley

[AlienFTM]

18 June 2008. AlienFTM Puts on his grammar bigot hat and points out that pronouns like IT never take an apostrophe with a genitive, just as HIS, HERS, YOURS, THEIR and MINE do not.

 

The contraction IT'S, from IT IS, is the only case where IT takes an apostrophe.

 

For sale: one soap box. Oops wrong thread.

 

;o)

[antarmike]

But I did get it right in the man's name though, didn't I

[Snapper]

Yessireeebob.

[AlienFTM]

But I did get it right in the man's name though, didn't I

 

That is a very interesting question.

 

The only rule I have ever seen is that an apostrophe without an 's' is used only when the word contains two or more 's's, they are not together and one is at the end. (Or something like that.) Which makes it wrong. But I only ever heard the rule once a very long time ago and my quoting of the rule may itself be wrong.

 

However, when Newcastle United FC are allowed to call their stadium St James' Park (whereas the park in London and the football ground in Exeter at both called St James's Park), what can you do?

 

A year or two back I heard this question raised on BBC Radio (presumably 5 - it's the only BBC radio I ever listen to). ISTR their presenter came up with an entirely different rule, so different that I could not even consolidate it in my head whilst alongside the old rule that had popped in due to the question being raised,

 

But she agreed that St James' Park was so dreadfully wrong. But I could have told her that anyway.

 

There are no standards. Flog 'em all I say.