Notes & Asides

Dear Mr. Buckley,

Why am I disturbed to see constructions such as “. . . Mr. Jones’s habits” in NR and elsewhere? When did it become proper to add “s” to the possessive form of nouns ending in “s” instead of the simple apostrophe? I was always taught that Mr. Jones’ habits were primarily his business and that the numerous Joneses’ habits were theirs-as opposed to Mr. Jones’s habits his and the numerous Joneses’s habits theirs.