In article <L8iuVVFd...@molly.mockford>, on Sun, 30 Dec 2012, Molly
Mockford <
nospam...@mollymockford.me.uk> wrote
>At 22:45:11 on Sun, 30 Dec 2012, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
><
ju...@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote in
><
H6axztd3...@soft255.demon.co.uk>:
>
>>In article <
1kvxrdq.pv2f4xmeh65bN%sn...@spambin.fsnet.co.uk>, on Sun,
>>30 Dec 2012, Sn!pe <
sn...@spambin.fsnet.co.uk> wrote
>>>[crossposted: auk; apihna]
>>>
>>>% <
per...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> not the black eyed one's
>>>
>>>Would you be dreadfully offended if I referred you to
>>>alt.possessive.its.has.no.apostrophe?
>>>
>>>WTF, this is xpoasted there anyway, just for fun.
>>>
>>Since we in APIHNA haven't seen the context, we don't _know_ that the
>>above is wrong (though it _probably_ is): it _could_ be referring to
>>things that belong to the black-eyed one, whoever he might be. (I'd
>>say - whichever meaning is intended - that the addition of the hyphen
>>would add clarity, but the apostrophe itself _might_ not be wrong.)
>
>You don't need the hyphen if you visualise a series of numbers, each
>with some kind of facial feature and each of a different colour. Then
>you have something belonging not to the green nosed three, but to the
>black eyed one.
Not need, no, but I still think green-nosed and black-eyed would make
that easier (and thus quicker) to read.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
You can think I'm wrong, but that's no reason to stop thinking. - Dr. Gregory
House (TV character), quoted in Radio Times 1-7/3/2008