It’s amazing what sort of thing might spark an impassioned debate.
Witness what happened when the folks behind the Associated Press stylebook revealed they were pondering a new rule. They posted a note on Twitter to announce they were thinking about changing the style for the possessives of proper names ending in “s.”
The question was simple: Should writers just add an apostrophe, as the style now requires, or should they also add another “s”?
“Passions are high on both sides of the question,” the style gurus admitted in a subsequent post.
Critics demanded to know why AP would even consider such a change. The answer was a desire for consistency.
AP style for singular common nouns ending in “s” already calls for adding an extra “s” for possessives, the gurus noted, so wouldn’t it make sense to do the same for proper nouns? Besides, they pointed out, making the change would bring AP in line with other style guides, such as Strunk & White.
The critics were unconvinced.
“Definitely keep as is,” one said. “There is no need to change it to conform to other types of style. Plus, why add an extra letter when space can be tight on a page?”
Some got pretty emotional.
“For the love of God, please keep just the apostrophe,” one pleaded. “Looks much cleaner in print and is less confusing when I read. Whenever I read something like ‘Wes’s,’ my brain adds another three syllables for some reason.”
Of course, some folks just didn’t care.
“Is this what we’re wasting our time on?” asked a Twitter user calling himself Nuclear Cowboy. “Pick one and run with it.”
For others, though, the whole idea was just too much.
“Just stop, please,” one guy begged.
Another demanded to know: “Why are you still considering this?”
And then there was this from someone calling herself Lil Cinnamon Spice: “Omg can u pls stop finding stupid things to randomly change for no reason at all? No one wants this.”
Well, some folks do.
“Additional ‘s’ plus apostrophe, please,” said a guy calling himself John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. “The other way is just wrong, dammit!”
One man provided some historical context.
“It’s an old rule from when papers had to use blocks to print,” he tweeted. “It saves them time by not adding the ‘s.’ But it’s inconsistent with the rule for adding apostrophe and ‘s’ for singular nouns. Change the rule.”
Others had little patience for the protests.
“Screaming ‘NO!’ is not informed discussion,” one tweeted.
Another chimed in: “If only there were some professional organization of, say, working editors who might be surveyed on questions such as this, rather than turning to the #OxfordComma4Life crowd.”
The critics stood firm.
“No one gave you this power,” one said. “You have no right to wield it.”
One woman argued she had a personal stake in the debate.
“Keep apostrophe as it is,” she said. “My name ends in ‘s’, and I do not need an extra ‘s’!”
Another woman questioned that.
“I don’t understand your aversion,” she said. “Everyone else adds an apostrophe ‘s’ to their name.”
Those whose last names end in “s” are also divided. I’m with those who would add an “s.” After all, as another Twitter user suggested, “It’s just the best phonetic representation for how the word is pronounced.”
Still, some folks insist on keeping things as they are.
“If you change it to ‘s’s’, I’m going to pretend I’m a snake and just start hissing at the end of those words,” one Twitter user insisted.
Let him hiss, I say.
Kelly Hawes is a columnist for for CNHI newspapers in Indiana. Send comments to [email protected].
