Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

mike storer

Member Since

January 3, 2013

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

1

Bio

Latest Comments

Someone else’s

  • January 3, 2013, 11:19pm

Nobody above has mentioned the added level of awkwardness when it comes to the possessive forms of these words.. and it gets even worse with the possessive plurals.
You get these:

Both of the sisters'-in-law families attended the wedding. That just sounds bizarre.
Who would ever say: All passers'-by faces fell when they saw what was happening in the street.