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#benjamindreyer — Public Fediverse posts

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  1. By Benjamin Dreyer:

    THE POSSESSIVIZATION OF DONALD TRUMP, JR. A GRAND GUIGNOL IN ONE ACT

    In July 2017 one of our nation’s preeminent if perhaps somewhat self-delightedly parochial magazines foisted upon the world this headline:

    DONALD TRUMP, JR.,’S LOVE FOR RUSSIAN DIRT

    The writer Michael Colton, in an aghast tweet, identified this particular method of rendering a possessive “period-comma-apostrophe bullshit,” which may not be the precise technical term for it but which does just fine anyway.

    Let me say this about that: That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works. If you are a younger or more forward-thinking person, you may already render the names of photocopied offspring commalessly, thus: Donald Trump Jr. In which case you’ve got it easy: Donald Trump Jr. is a perfidious wretch. and thus: Donald Trump Jr.’s perfidy Old-school construction, though, sets off a “Jr.” with commas, as in: Donald Trump, Jr., is a perfidious wretch. When possessivizing such a person, your options are that horror noted above, which I’ll refrain from repeating Donald Trump, Jr.’s perfidy (which is admittedly a little unbalanced) Donald Trump, Jr.’s, perfidy (better balanced, and at least not eye-stabbingly ugly) You choose.

    #English #style #BenjaminDreyer