Sandy Hobbs | Letters to Ambrose Merton # 22, 2000

Under the heading “Farewell, My Lovely, in the last issue, I suggested that popular usage was leading the the death of “apostrophe s”. here are two more pieces of evidence.

A pub in central Paisley calls itself “Hamishes House”. Is there one Hamish? Or are there more? Hamish’s? Hamishs’?

Ira Levin’s novel The Stepford Wives was recently republished for Sight and Sound by Bloomsbury of London. On page 32 there is a reference to “a pitcher of Bloody Mary’s”. This book was first published in Britain in 1972 and presumably earlier in the United States. Was the punctuation the same originally?