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Subject:RE: Rule about not using possessive? From:Mark Levinson <MarkL -at- gilian -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 6 Jul 2001 10:59:28 +0300
Although the Microsoft Manual of Style (at least my copy, which is
Second Edition) does say not to write "Word's templates" or "the
spelling checker's dictionary", Microsoft's rule is against possessives
"for product or feature names," not against possessives for common nouns
in general. Microsoft is happy with "the encyclopedia's search
capabilities" and "the articles' links".
Some centuries ago, a misconception arose that the possessive
apostrophe-S originated as a contraction of "his" and that therefore
the possessor should always be a human being. There is no true
foundation for such beliefs, nor even for the idea that the
apostrophe-S always denotes ownership ("a week's vacation").
Using a trademark in the possessive case makes it a noun and may
ultimately, in some cases, invite the contention from a competitor
that the noun must be made available for everybody's free use because
there is no alternative. "Hey, my staircase moves. If I can't
call it an escalator, nobody will know what I'm talking about."
However, some very trademark-conscious companies do use their
trademarks as nouns. It's "Drink Coke," not "Drink Coke beverage."
Mark L. Levinson
managing writer/editor
Gilian Technologies
The last line of defense against hacker sabotage
www.gilian.com
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