wrote:
Martin Rich wrote:
On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 23:24:05 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote:

IIRC (I don't have the book to hand at present), she said that if
people invent a brand name, one should reluctantly accept it as it
stands, and quoted "St Thomas' Hospital" as an example.

St Thomas' Hospital gets a specific mention along these lines in the
Times style guide (
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...41-560,00.html and scroll
down to 'apostrophes') where the hospital's house style takes
precedence over the newspaper's

Martin

Thanks for that link, Martin.

I have read it and disagree profoundly with their accusation that St.
Thomas' Hospital is a "whim". How patronisingly offensive.

Their basic rule is to "follow the rule of writing what is voiced".
Everyone who I have heard speak the name of the hospital have said "St
Thomas's", so to write it any other way is indeed a whim.

Would they be equally patronising when referring to "Jesus'
birthplace" or "Zeus' Temple" or "King James' Version" (as in bible)?
Only one of these is of two syllables, and none of these are of Greek
origin or a "whim"!

They seem to use "King James version" without an apostrophe.

And, I'm sure (in the days when I still read that newspaper, before it
became tabloid) I have seen "Dickens' works" or similar, and never
"Dickens's works" which I would have remembered! And, I have NEVER
seen either in that newspaper or elsewhere reference to "The Times's
Letters Page" or the "The Times's leader"!

They used "Dickens's" on 20/5/06. Their style guide allows "The Times's
style" OR "Times style".

The simple and easy-to-remember rule is to omit the final "s" in all
possessive plurals.

That's fine, but the discussion that you initiated was about possessive
*singulars* where the name ends in "s". Generally, the accepted rule is
to add "'s" to the name, as in St James's Park, with certain exceptions
including old Greek names, Jesus, etc. As someone whose surname ends in
an "s", I find it offensive (well, annoying anyway) if someone treats it
as a plural noun, or sticks the apostrophe in the middle of my name
(before my "s").
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)