grammar for peoples

[elemess]

I know the Internet isn't exactly the place to go to find good grammar. Bloggers, especially, are notoriously bad at grammar. Partisan bloggers aren't the worst, but they're not exactly the gold standard, either.

This post at Peach Pundit is a good example. Forget the semantics of the post's definition of nonpartisan for a moment and look at this

Comments

[martina_d]

*snickers*

There is very little that bothers me more than seeing someone's name done like this: Mrs. Ayers's class. I taught for a while, and the teachers had to have a class banner outside the door. Mrs. Ayers' banner always bothered me, and I can't believe the Principal never made her redo it.

That being said, what exactly does [sic] mean? I taught kindergarten, so I didn't have to know much beyond the alphabet and basic addition. =)

[elemess]

It basically says that what I've quoted is verbatim exactly what was written. In other words, it's not my mistake.

from Dictionary.com:so; thus: usually written parenthetically to denote that a word, phrase, passage, etc., that may appear strange or incorrect has been written intentionally or has been quoted verbatim: He signed his name as e. e. cummings (sic).
"Ms. Ayers's" is correct. Always add 's to make something possessive unless it's a regular plural. There are few exceptions: for appearance' sake, Jesus' name, and those the Chicago Manual of Style calls "Greek and hellenized names" such as Euripides' plays and Charles Yerkes' benefactions. For regular plurals, of course, just add an apostrophe to the end: churches' steeples. Irregular plurals often take 's, such as children's toys.

Consistency is the key.

[martina_d]

Are you kidding me??? I've been WRONG???!!! Sheesh. That's a first.

So when I do my daughter's name possessive, which is correct? Carys' puppy
or Carys's puppy?

What are you, an English professor?

[elemess]

Carys's puppy. If you think about it, you pronounce it "Caryses," as though it were plural, so you need the 's. When priests say "In Jesus' name," they say it singular, Jesus, rather than plural, Jesuses. Even if they're talking about this Jesus because there can really only be one of him.

Oh, and I'm an editor for the state. I proofread/edit legislation before and as it wends its way through the General Assembly.