[Ads-l] kids's'

[Laurence Horn]

I’m wondering how often it’s a real double possessive, /kIdzIz/, and how often it’s confusion about the spelling.  I suspect that some of the “kids’s” actually represent the garden-variety /kIdz/.

> On Sep 19, 2019, at 12:52 PM, Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> You’re right. I thought it was the possessive of the double-plural kids’s, but it must be the possessive of the plural kids. 
> 
> Perhaps it’s easiest to consider “kids” as a group noun. BB
> 
>> On 19 Sep 2019, at 09:47, Mark Mandel <markamandel at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> 
>> How did you hear the apostrophes? If you heard it, there were no apostrophes, or letters for that matter. Just phones, most likely [kɪdzəz].
>> 
>> /'mɑrk'ɛ͡ɪmæn'dɛl/
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, Sep 19, 2019, 12:10 PM Barretts Mail <mail.barretts at gmail.com <mailto:mail.barretts at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> I heard someone use “kids’s’” yesterday, which sounded normal to my ears. I suppose it does have to have the final apostrophe to indicate possession, but I’m not sure what to do with the first apostrophe. Here are a handful of examples that make it clear that only one apostrophe is needed. 
>> 
>> https://www.calvinklein.us/en/customerservice/kids-size-guide <https://www.calvinklein.us/en/customerservice/kids-size-guide> <https://www.calvinklein.us/en/customerservice/kids-size-guide <https://www.calvinklein.us/en/customerservice/kids-size-guide>>
>> Webpage title: Kids’s Size Chart
>> 
>> https://corralesartscenter.org/page-18214 <https://corralesartscenter.org/page-18214> <https://corralesartscenter.org/page-18214 <https://corralesartscenter.org/page-18214>> 
>> Webpage title: “Kids’s Classes”
>> 
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GkDaEmkAxY <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GkDaEmkAxY> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GkDaEmkAxY <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GkDaEmkAxY>>
>> Best Of Kids's Surprise Reaction to Pregnancy Announcement
>> 
>> https://www.amazon.com/Saucony-Kidss-Inferno-3-Pack-Sock/dp/B07NGJNJ42 <https://www.amazon.com/Saucony-Kidss-Inferno-3-Pack-Sock/dp/B07NGJNJ42> <https://www.amazon.com/Saucony-Kidss-Inferno-3-Pack-Sock/dp/B07NGJNJ42 <https://www.amazon.com/Saucony-Kidss-Inferno-3-Pack-Sock/dp/B07NGJNJ42>>
>> Saucony Kids's Inferno 3-Pack Sock Kids
>> 
>> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kidss-gelato-pop-making-class-tickets-63328703858 <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kidss-gelato-pop-making-class-tickets-63328703858> <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kidss-gelato-pop-making-class-tickets-63328703858 <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kidss-gelato-pop-making-class-tickets-63328703858>>
>> Kids's Gelato Pop Making Class
>> 
>> https://bright.com/rental-catalog/kids%27s-chairs/2255 <https://bright.com/rental-catalog/kids%27s-chairs/2255> <https://bright.com/rental-catalog/kids's-chairs/2255 <https://bright.com/rental-catalog/kids's-chairs/2255>>
>> Kids’s Chairs
>> 
>> https://www.washington.lib.ia.us/children/childrens-images/kids-page/view <https://www.washington.lib.ia.us/children/childrens-images/kids-page/view> <https://www.washington.lib.ia.us/children/childrens-images/kids-page/view <https://www.washington.lib.ia.us/children/childrens-images/kids-page/view>>
>> Kids’s Page Banner
>> 
>> As JJM points out on https://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/the-kidss-are-all-right/ <https://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/the-kidss-are-all-right/> <https://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/the-kidss-are-all-right/ <https://mightyredpen.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/the-kidss-are-all-right/>>, confusion over apostrophe use will exist as long as the apostrophe is part of English.
>> 
>> Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
>> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org <http://www.americandialect.org/>
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org