John GruberFeb 28
@MisterMoo What in the world are you talking about? His surname Griffiths is singular so it takes ‘s to make possessive. Some style guides make exceptions for “biblical names”, by which they mean “Jesus” and “Moses”, but that’s dumb.
Show threadPeter Cohen

@gruber @MisterMoo Not that it's the Bible or anything, but you're throwing the AP Stylebook out the window here, my dude.

For singular proper names ending in s: Use only an apostrophe.

Feb 28 at 1:08pmWeb
Show threadJohn GruberFeb 28

@flargh @MisterMoo True, but I’m not a fan of AP Style. It almost always errs on the side of omitting characters, I think from their history as a literal wire service.

https://www.reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/1esvji9/ap_uses_harris_and_walzs_while_ny_times/

Show threadMarc Robinson Feb 28

@gruber @flargh @MisterMoo Strunk & White say 's every time.

And Click & Clack say it's better to be unencumbered by the thought process.

Show threadDr. DrangMar 1
@gruber @flargh @MisterMoo AP wants you to omit the Oxford comma, too. ’Nuff said.
Show threadChancerubbageMar 1

@drdrang @gruber @flargh @MisterMoo

That is enough reasons for never looking at the AP style guidelines.

Maybe they wanted reporters to write so unambiguously that it wouldn’t even be necessary.

An Oxford comma is almost always necessary, the grammar issue it solves might not be.

Show threadMark MetzgerMar 1
@drdrang @gruber @flargh @MisterMoo blasphemy. Oxford commas rule.
Show threadJordan KayMar 2

@flargh @gruber @MisterMoo The AP Stylebook rule is a result of a misinterpretation and should not be used. Apostrophes do not make a sound. They misinterpreted examples like “Jesus’” and “Moses’” as being pronounced “Jesuses” and “Moseses,” but of course they aren’t — “Jesus’ life” is pronounced “Jesus life,” not “Jesuses life.”

The creators of that rule did not understand this, and took it to mean that “Chris’ book” can be pronounced “Chrises book.” It cannot. Where would the second S sound come from when only one S is written? If you say “Chrises book,” which you undoubtedly do, you need to write “Chris’s book,” plain and simple.

Cases like “Griffiths” pattern like plural nouns, so the option “Griffiths’” is attractive, but they are still singular proper nouns, and for clarity “Griffiths’s” should be preferred, as should “Jobs’s” etc. Ultimately the same rule applies: any non-plural noun marks its possessive with “’s,” pronounced “es.”

The only exception (outside of the optional Biblical ones) is for words ending in a silent S: the singular noun “corps” ends in a silent S and its possessive form “corps’” just adds an apostrophe, which you can view as making the final S not silent leading to the pronunciation “cores.”