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If I Wanted To Write, Rolf Harris Portrait Of...
Would Harris end with s's, or just the apostrophe after the s in the name?
Answers
Angleesh is NOT prescriptive - doesnt tell you what is right -
Since you have The Court of St james's - based at St James's Palace - the regular genitive seems to be OK since forever
One English books said only goodness' sake and for consceince' sake were irregular
but then went onto say that yearn and yearn agoo - The Duke of Buckingham's palace wd have been The Duke's palace of Buckingham
I started reading Dickens
Yes, I understand style guides suggest Harris' but that's an arbitrary rule with no logic to it as far as I can see. I never understood why we say Jesus' disciples and Pythagoras' theorem- I've seen it explained as something about famous historical figures.
We still say aloud "Mr Harris's dog" so why write "Mr Harris' dog?"
I was taught s's; I went to St James's School and it was carved in the stone wall of the building. The current fashion is s' and I notice my old school also has a painted board which declares it to be St James' School. I blame the "Time and Motion" men who appeared in the 1960s or thereabouts who were trying to make typists more efficient by saving the odd character here and there (one space after a full stop, not two etc).
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