Author: Kirk

“Do Kennedy’s have to work …”

Apostrophes, Plurals

I saw this yesterday on Fox News Channel.

Problem:
The apostrophe does not belong.

Explanation:
The news-related discussion on Fox News Channel (FNC) was about Caroline Kennedy’s public-relations campaign to get selected by New York’s governor to be the replacement for Senator Hillary Clinton, who had been nominated by President-Elect Barack Obama to be his Secretary of State.

FNC displayed a banner at the bottom of the TV screen during the discussion.

The banner asked “DO KENNEDY’S HAVE TO WORK TWICE AS HARD?” because the discussion focused on whether a member of the Kennedy family has to work harder to prove himself or herself to the public so as to avoid the appearance of a sense of entitlement from the legacy of President John F. Kennedy.

Pluralizing a proper noun that ends in “y” requires simply that an “s” be added to the end.

In other words, a name such as “Kennedy” should not be changed to “Kennedies” — with an I-E-S –and should not be changed to “Kennedy’s” — with an APOSTROPHE-S — when pluralizing it.

I suspect that a spelling checker encouraged the TV banner writer to make the mistake of pluralizing “Kennedy” by adding an apostrophe followed by an “s” because a spelling checker will recognize this form as correct. Unfortunately, this form is correct for the possessive, singular form of “Kennedy” and not for the plural form of “Kennedy”.

Solution:
“Do Kennedys have to work …”

Support a charity while encouraging me!

General

Dear KirkMahoney.com Blog Reader,

I am walking and running (mostly walking) the Houston Marathon on 18 January 2009, six years after my first one.

The Houston Marathon provides a simple vehicle for individuals like me to raise money on behalf of their favorite charities.

As I did six years ago, I am covering the 26.2 miles on behalf of CanCare, a wonderful charity.

And I have a special page where you can support this charity while encouraging me to suffer through — I mean, to make it through — all 262 tenths of a mile.

My goal this year is to raise a dollar for every tenth of a mile that I cover on my road to the finish line.

If you would like to help, then please visit http://www.active.com/donate/cancare2009/KirkMahoney and make a donation to this worthy charity.

Thank you in advance for your support!

– Kirk

P.S. If you are reading this before the end of 2008 and live in the USA, then there is no time to waste in making a year-2008 tax-deductible contribution. Please visit the CanCare website for more information about tax treatment of your contribution. If you are reading this in 2009 and live in the USA, then your contribution would apply to the 2009 tax year. If the Houston Marathon donation link no longer works, then please go directly to the CanCare website. Wherever you live and whenever you make your contribution, thank you for your support!

103 Words

Foreign Languages, General

I have yet another book to recommend.

It is titled 103 Words that will make YOU A well-rounded Conversationalist!.

As with 101 Words … and 102 Words … by Kim Rogers, this book would be a wonderful gift for a teenager or adult.

“Comestible” is one of the words in this book and is a good example of the value of learning another language.

“Comer” is the Spanish verb for “to eat”; “comestible” in Spanish means edible or comestible in English.

So, although “comestible” in Spanish is pronounced differently than “comestible” in English, these two words with identical meanings have identical spellings.

In other words, “comestible” is a Spanish/English true cognate.

This book contains many words that are not at the tip of my tongue. I recognized all of them but would have failed at correctly providing all of their definitions.

So, as with 101 Words … and 102 Words …, I can imagine some of these words appearing on an SAT exam.

And, as with 101 Words … and 102 Words …, the price is right, too.

No matter whether English is your native language or is a foreign language, I highly recommend that you read what the author says about this book and then buy it!