Re: [Phys-l] Sir, Can We Do Something Easier?

[Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com>]

And is the correct one, as the law was proposed by one person.  [MLA 
Style Manual:  All singular proper nouns, including the names of persons 
and places, form their possessives in the same manner (Mars's wrath, 
Camus's novel, Kansas's weather, Dickens's popularity, but the 
Dickenses' economic problems).

bc, who thinks Lynne might use the second example in her next edition. 
Besides two Gaus would be two Gauses, and Gauss, Gausses.

p.s. no ambiguity:  the sign advertised trees for sale, for the second, 
I doubt, except on Carnaby St., an English firm would permit that joke.

Quist, Oren wrote:

> Forgive me if I enter the middle of this thread without following from
> the beginning, (this may already have been mentioned) but my favorite
> is:
>
> 	Gauss's Law  -- Halliday & Resnick ~ 1965
> 	Gauss' Law   -- Halliday Resnick, Walker, 1997
> 	Gauss's Law  -- Giambatista et al, 2007
>
> I think the three "s" pattern is used most.
>
> Oren Quist
> South Dakota State University
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> [mailto:phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of John
> Clement
> Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 12:13 AM
> To: 'Forum for Physics Educators'
> Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Sir, Can We Do Something Easier?
>
> Be warned."   Finally,
>  
>
> > Lynne Truss in "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" gives several pages of
> >    
> misplaced
>  
>
> > apostrophes, e.g. Dear Mr. Steven's, XMA'S Trees, Glady's (badge on
> > salesgirl), and Did'sbury.
> >    
>
> Some of these examples could be ambiguous.
> Could XMA's Trees be implying that the trees belong to XMA?
> As to Glady, perhaps it is labeling a part of the anatomy as belonging
> to
> her, depending on where she wears it!
>
> One of the reasons for misapplied things like apostrophes is that
> English is
> a polyglot language and foreign examples then influence common English
> usage.  The apostrophe is used in completely different ways in some
> other
> languages, for example Hebrew.  I am not claiming that Hebrew is the
> influence here, but just pointing out a language which uses the
> apostrophe
> in completely different ways.
>
> A good example of this is the grammar maven's "It is I".  French says
> "C'est
> moi" or in literal translation "It's me".  The "It is I" construction is
> from the Latin, and may actually be alien to English.  The double
> negative
> which has become all too common in everyday English is probably a
> misapplication of the romance language usage.  French and Spanish use a
> two
> word negative.  In the case of French the two words form a single
> negative.
>
> John M. Clement
> Houston, TX
>
>
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