AFSCME 3357-HOF'S BLOG

Wikipedia Entry of the Day - Apostrophe

If you look up "apostrophe" on Wikipedia, you'll find the entry includes everything you always wanted to know about apostrophes, but were afraid to ask. As lawyers, most people know that when you want to refer to more than one person who serves as a state's highest attorney, you use the term "attorneys general". But what about when there is one #1 attorney who just happens to have a slush fund? Then it's the Attorney General's slush fund. But, you say, the fund is owned by the attorney, "general" is a mere adjective. Ah, here's where the distinction comes in. It is the attorney general's slush fund. This distinguishes from when the slush fund is owned by many attorneys general, in which case it is the attorneys general's slush fund. Of course, you can always debate whether there should be a hypen between "attorney" and "general", because manuals of style don't agree.