"Britney Spears' publicist has dismissed rumours a body double was used in the video for the new single Hold It Against Me because the pop star hadn't learned the complicated dance routines."
By the way, newswires, it's "Spears's": don't be afraid of the second 's' with the possessive singular. But that's hardly the point here.
The point is that Decoy Britney (of whom i have written previously, here http://perineum-wa.blogspot.com/2009/11/decoy-britney.html and here http://perineum-wa.blogspot.com/2010/01/update.html) continues to make her redoubtable presence felt.
BORING:
INTERESTING:
Allegedly, this is Decoy Britney leaving rehab.
Rehab!
Why has Decoy Britney been in rehab? Has she been decoy drinking? Is it for decoy drug abuse?
Clearly, Decoy Britney lives a far more interesting life than does Ms Spears herself. I would like to offer my services as Decoy's biographer. I know she reads this blog - i'm awaiting the call.
Sir, being a self-confessed Possessive Single (& somewhat anal as you might infer from this post) - I turned to Teh Luvverly Interwebs to help me sort this out:
ReplyDeleteThis is also the rule used by the United States Government Printing Office:
Quote:
All singular nouns form their possessive case by the addition of an apostrophe and an s.
Plural nouns ending in s form their possessive by adding only an apostrophe.
Some irregular plurals require both an apostrophe and an s.
Among the examples then explicitly given by the USGPO are "boss's" as the possessive of "boss", and "hostess's" as the possessive of "hostess", and "Mars's" as the possessive for the planet Mars.
Now, the USGPO lacks the weight of Authority of pretty much any old English institution, so I remained disinclined to add the final "s"
but this nailed it for me:
I will go along with the rule used by the Oxford University Press ("Hart's Rules"):
Quote:
An apostrophe and s are generally used with personal names ending in an s, x or z sound: Charles's, Dickens's, Marx's,
***Bridget Jones's Diary***
Blessans,
Le Rev Dr