>From the sixteenth edition of the Chicago Manual of Style: ----- 7.8 Plurals of proper nouns
Names of persons and other capitalized nouns normally form the plural by adding s or es. Rare exceptions, including the last example, are generally listed in Webster's. Tom, Dick, and Harry; pl. Toms, Dicks, and Harrys the Jones family, pl. the Joneses the Martinez family, pl. the Martinezes the Bruno family, pl. the Brunos Sunday, pl. Sundays Germany, pl. Germanys Pakistani, pl. Pakistanis but Romany, pl. Romanies An apostrophe is never used to form the plural of a family name: "The Jeffersons live here" (not "Jefferson's"). For the apostrophe in the possessive form of proper nouns, see 7.16. ----- The correct usage would be "The Bushes are blue-bloods." Doug Fields Tampa, FL -----Original Message----- From: tvornottv@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvorno...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin M. Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2010 2:03 AM To: tvornottv@googlegroups.com Subject: [TV orNotTV] OT: Bushes, Bush's, or Bushs This is popping up in blog after blog and dozens of news stories, but I'm having trouble pinning down the correct grammatical form. I asked on my Facebook and a few people have weighed in (including Ed from this list -- thanks, Ed). I thought I'd throw it open to the braintrust at large and see what everyone thinks. When referencing the Bush family, would I write "The Bushes are blue-bloods," "The Bush's are blue-bloods," or "The Bushs are blue-bloods"? An article I just read used the apostrophe and I don't believe that is accurate. I believe the last option "The Bushs" is the correct one, but it is tough to Google the concept of a collective proper noun which happens to be the same as an irregular noun. Does the rule of adding -es to make a noun ending in H plural apply to the names of people? I don't believe it does, but I can't find clarification one way or the other. I see so many Russian names like Ivanovich or Petravich, and adding -es to them doesn't seem right. But I don't know. -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
