Date:  Fri, 22 Sep 1995 09:42:49 -0400

From:  Merri Lisa Johnson <mj906388[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>

Subject: Re: Plural Proper Nouns



On Thu, 21 Sep 1995, Tom Uharriet wrote:



> Fritz Juengling writes:

>

> > When I was in grade school, we learned the rule,

> > "drop the <y>, add <ies>. For years, when I was studying

> > German, there were two "Germanies." Then about 5 years ago,

> > when the Germanies were reuniting, I saw nothing in the papers

> > except 'Germanys.' This violated everything I had ever

> > learned, both in English and German classes.

>

> Did that <ies> rule apply to proper nouns?

> In a room full of people named either Wendy or Terry, do we have . . .

>     six Wendies and seven Terries

>   or, six Wendy's and seven Terry's

>   or, six Wendys and seven Terrys?

>

>

> Tom Uharriet

> utom[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]admn.712.nebo.edu





Hi. I just wanted to add that I hate that crazy "change y to ies" rule.

As a matter of fact, I refused to observe it as an English major

undergraduate. Can we change it?



Merri Lisa

Ohio University>