Busta busting a karaoke jam.
To form the possessive of a singular noun not ending in an s sound, add an apostrophe plus s to the noun. (But you knew all these…)
- my lawyer’s advice
- my child’s teacher
- Tulabelle’s haircut
- Mr. and Mrs. Snerd’s woodpile
- Illinois’s politicians
- Arkansas’s former governor
- Des Moines’s mayor
- the corps’s leadership
To form the possessive of a singular noun that ends in an s sound, be guided by the way you pronounce the word.
If a new syllable is formed in the pronunciation of the possessive, add an apostrophe plus s.
- your boss’s approval
- the witness’s reply
- Ms. Lopez’s application
- Mr. and Mrs. Morris’s plane tickets
- St. Louis’s airport
- Dallas’s football team
- Congress’s failures
If the addition of an extra syllable would make a word ending in an s hard to pronounce, add the apostrophe only.
- Officer Phillips’ water ski
- Judge Hastings’ decision
- the Burroughs’ condominium
- Los Angeles’ freeways
- New Orleans’ restaurants
- Jesus’ parables
- Moses’ flight from Egypt (it was ‘grounded’ but arrived nevertheless)
- for goodness’ sake
- Achilles’ heel [but: Achilles tendon]
NOTE: Individual differences in pronunciation will affect the way some of these possessives are written. For example, if you pronounce the possessive form of Perkins as two syllables, you will write Mr. Perkins’ kindness; if you pronounce the possessive of Perkins as three syllables, you will write Mr. Perkins’s kindness. The important thing is to listen to your own pronunciation. When you hear yourself pronounce the possessive of boss as two syllables (boss’s) and the possessive of witness as three (witness’s), you will not be tempted to write your boss’ approval or the witness’ reply. Naturally, tradition should take precedence over your ear. For example, the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain is appointed to the Court of St. James’s (not, as you might expect, Court of St. James).
When forming the possessive of any noun ending in s (for example, Mr. Hodges), always place the apostrophe at the end of the original word, never within it.
- Mr. Hodges’ message (not: Mr. Hodge’s message)
Source: The Gregg Reference Manual.
Hey, friends,
I accidentally just launched a should-be-forgotten-by-now browser on a Windows machine called Microsoft Internet Explorer, which reminded me that this dinosaur hasn’t been permanently removed from the planet yet.
Two things:
1. For Windows users who use Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE), I must first apologize. It appears that during this site’s redesign a few months ago, I neglected to test a couple layout things on MSIE. Due to the fact that this doomed browser is totally stupid, MSIE users may have noticed that the right edge of the window has been getting clipped off. Ooops. I’ve fixed it with a little hacking.
2. Windows browsers don’t have to suck like this. If you’ve been using MSIE by default, you’re way overdue do yourself a favor, pop the red pill, and go get Firefox. You’ll be glad you did.
This world needs a mass exodus from Microsoft Internet Explorer yesterday. It will not only make everyone’s browsing experience smoother, it’ll also ensure that Web sites will be seen the way they were intended to be seen. Web designers are gradually caring less and less about the way things look in MSIE, and there will soon come a day when MSIE will be completely ignored, becoming about as much a design consideration as the 28.8 kilobaud modem.
Come on. Let’s go.
You are presented with ten burlap bags full of coins. Nine of these bags contain counterfeit coins; one bag contains real gold coins. A counterfeit coin is visually identical to a real coin, and you do not know which bag contains the real gold.
Each counterfeit coin weighs exactly 1 gram, while each real gold coin weighs 1.1 grams. You are given a digital scale, the type you’d see in a delicatessen, which accurately measures weight the nearest hundredth of a gram.
If you can identify which bag has the gold, you can keep it. You are allowed one and only one measurement on the scale, so choose wisely. You are permitted to open the bags.
Good luck.
From a NewScientist study, five great auditory illusions with explanations of their effects.
This weekend’s activities included a hike to the Grottos on the outskirts of Booneville in what I was told was Mecca Hills, California. It’s east of Palm Springs, past La Quinta, through Coachella, and beyond Indio, somewhere between nowhere and Phoenix.
After parking the rig, we humped some hills and sand dunes by way of a map. The hike included an epic view of the Salton Sea, which is the the largest lake in California at 376 square miles.
There are a few “grotto systems” in the area a few miles from the road. I think we found our way to the first system, which includes three caves situated end to end. Without flashlights, we got through the first cave and about twenty feet into the second before we started freaking out and hallucinating about fire-breathing dragons.
We’ve penciled in a return to the Grottos on our To Do list, this time with flashlights and no dogs. Local hikers informed us that you can get all the way through the three caves of the first system, which spits you out the other side of the mountain, allowing you to circle back to the car in a sort of loop. I look forward to that adventure, since, well, I was quite the spelunker in my previous life anyway. But that one’s gonna have to wait until Fall, or better yet, Winter, since I don’t think any of us are ready to revisit those badlands in 137 degree heat.
Below are some pretty lame pics from my cell phone, which was also being used as an ineffective flashlight towards the end of our tour into the darkness.
