OT: Bushes, Bush's, or Bushs

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Kevin M.

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Dec 1, 2010, 2:03:04 AM12/1/10
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This is popping up in blog after blog and dozens of news stories, but
I'm having trouble pinning down the correct grammatical form. I asked
on my Facebook and a few people have weighed in (including Ed from
this list -- thanks, Ed). I thought I'd throw it open to the
braintrust at large and see what everyone thinks.

When referencing the Bush family, would I write "The Bushes are
blue-bloods," "The Bush's are blue-bloods," or "The Bushs are
blue-bloods"? An article I just read used the apostrophe and I don't
believe that is accurate. I believe the last option "The Bushs" is the
correct one, but it is tough to Google the concept of a collective
proper noun which happens to be the same as an irregular noun.

Does the rule of adding -es to make a noun ending in H plural apply to
the names of people? I don't believe it does, but I can't find
clarification one way or the other. I see so many Russian names like
Ivanovich or Petravich, and adding -es to them doesn't seem right. But
I don't know.

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

Wesley McGee

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Dec 1, 2010, 3:14:36 AM12/1/10
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I do believe it is -es, because I'm a descriptivist and people say "Bushes" to refer to them as plural rather than "Bush". If there is no clear known rule, there is no rule. I never heard of the no -es rule for names. That said, for now on I'd probably avoid the whole thing by writing "Bush family" and using "the family" for subsequent references.

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Wesley McGee
http://www.ambivi.com
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Wesley McGee

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Dec 1, 2010, 3:15:33 AM12/1/10
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Oh, I don't think "apostrophe s" is ever right in this case.

Doug Fields

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Dec 1, 2010, 5:33:16 AM12/1/10
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From the sixteenth edition of the Chicago Manual of Style:

-----
7.8 Plurals of proper nouns

Names of persons and other capitalized nouns normally form the plural by
adding s or es. Rare exceptions, including the last example, are generally
listed in Webster's.

Tom, Dick, and Harry; pl. Toms, Dicks, and Harrys
the Jones family, pl. the Joneses
the Martinez family, pl. the Martinezes
the Bruno family, pl. the Brunos
Sunday, pl. Sundays
Germany, pl. Germanys
Pakistani, pl. Pakistanis
but
Romany, pl. Romanies

An apostrophe is never used to form the plural of a family name: "The
Jeffersons live here" (not "Jefferson's"). For the apostrophe in the
possessive form of proper nouns, see 7.16.
-----

The correct usage would be "The Bushes are blue-bloods."

Doug Fields
Tampa, FL

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Kevin M. (RPCV)

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Ron Casalotti

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Dec 1, 2010, 8:23:25 AM12/1/10
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Time, USA Today, The Nation and thr New York Times all use 'Bushes'
for the plural. As mentioned earlier,'Bush's"is only used in the
possessive.

I'd go with the -es.

Ron Casalotti
Wayne, NJ

Kevin M.

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Dec 1, 2010, 8:25:31 AM12/1/10
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On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 2:33 AM, Doug Fields <do...@flids.net> wrote:
> From the sixteenth edition of the Chicago Manual of Style:

> The correct usage would be "The Bushes are blue-bloods."

Here is where I again get nit-picky -- is this the same in the AP and
MLA style manuals? I only ask because I've seen more than a few
instances where the Chicago Manual of Style differed greatly from the
other primary manuals (its insistance on the double-s apostrophe, as
in James's, for example). None of my university professors would allow
the Chicago Manual to be used


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Kevin M. (RPCV)

Doug Fields

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Dec 1, 2010, 9:18:15 AM12/1/10
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That, I couldn't answer at the moment. The CMoS has always been the Bible
for me, through all my university classes and work experience. I don't have
copies of the other references to give a definitive answer. Maybe I'll pop
down to the library tonight and research it.

Doug Fields
Tampa, FL

-----Original Message-----
From: tvor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvor...@googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Kevin M.


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Jon Delfin

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Dec 1, 2010, 9:35:57 AM12/1/10
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It's possible (but very unlikely) that MLA differs from CMoS on
Bushes/Bush's. But unless you're preparing a piece for a publication
that uses MLA, what does it matter? If you pick a style manual and
stay consistent within it, you're golden.

By the way, the NYTimes manual also includes the double-s apostrophe.
So it's not just CMoS.

jd

Melissa P

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Dec 1, 2010, 10:00:45 AM12/1/10
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Response from my sister:
 
"Bushes.....Yes, we have "permission" to make the plural pronouncible...."
 
who -- until she was laid off -- did grammar for a living.
 
Melissa P

On Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 2:03 AM, Kevin M. <drunkba...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dave Sikula

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Dec 2, 2010, 5:33:38 AM12/2/10
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I checked with someone at Yahoo! edit services, and our style guide
calls for "Bushes," too.

That is all.

--Dave Sikula

K.M. Richards

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Dec 2, 2010, 2:15:54 PM12/2/10
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On Dec 1, 5:25 am, "Kevin M." <drunkbastar...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Here is where I again get nit-picky -- is this the same in the AP and
> MLA style manuals?

My recollection is that the AP style manual ("The Word") deals more
with syntax, choice of words, and general writing style than it does
matters like pluralizing proper names. I'll see if I can find my
copy; I haven't had the need to refer to it in more than a decade.

"The Elements of Grammar" by Shertzer (which is considered to be a
companion work to the renowned "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and
White), however, says the following:

Proper nouns form their plurals by adding s to the singular, or es
when the word ends in s, z, ch, sh, or zh:
the Carolinas
two Helens
the Kennedys
Adamses
Busches
Jonses
Lynches
Morrises
Nashes
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