I imagine if you read my blog you know that for my job, I am the editor-in-cheif of UW of Utah County; if something goes out to more than 2 people, they are supposed to run it by me first. This is fine by me. Being the nerd I am, I actually really enjoy grammar and like to occasionally pull out my M Comms book from BYU and look over the rules for fun.
When I got married, I was presented with an interesting dillema: I didn't know how to pluralize my new name. You can imagine the weird feeling of being 23 years old and not be able to spell your name.
At first glance, it seems like Cox's would be correct, but what about when you are saying "from, the Cox's." That is definitely not possesive. My second thought was to just add an "S," but I knew Coxs was far from right, so next I went to Coxes. All of the rules I worked so hard to learn told me this was right, but boy, it sure didn't look right.
For the past 11 months, I've just avoided the whole situation and said "The Cox Family" whenever possible, but it was a constant nagging, annoying thought in the back of my mind.
I decided the only logical choice was Coxes, but sadly, I've been ridiculed by others who think that looks wrong and funny. Finally, I decided I needed to solve the dilemma once and for all and googled it. Sure enough, it is Coxes, I even checked multiple sources. So mystery solved, even though it may look funny and people think I don't know how to spell my name, I am now one of the Coxes. Good thing I figured it out before we hit a year next month!
7 comments:
Go with Cox'. Trust me.
;)
Um, also I pull out that same book sometimes. :)
I have the same problem with Franz...I usually just put Dave & Sarah Franz and avoid the problem all together.
I love that this bothered you. I dated a Curtis for a very long time and often wondered how to show when Curtis had ownership of something. Logically, to me it would be "Curtis's." Like, "I like Curtis's family." However I've often seen (for other names) it used like "Curtis' family." That, to me, seems wrong. I sort of have stuck to my guns of "Curtis's" but never thought to google it. It would have totally bothered me if it was my last name.
Go with Coxes, that also seemed right to me. :)
A couple of thoughts:
1. I wouldn't have known how to pluralize it either. I've always wondered about names like that.
2. Coxes sounds like coccyx.
3. If an apostraphe can be used to substitute for a letter, shouldn't Cox's also be correct.
4. I'm still curious about how to pluralize a name that ends in s, such as Harris (Harris', Harris's, Harrises, Harrisses?) or Stevens (Stevens', Stevens's, Stevenses?). What do you think?
yeah haha,
Coxes could either sound like coccyx or Cokes depending on who you talk to.
I will never ridicule your love of grammar.
Brenna! Its Lindsey, I found your blog through Emily's. I'm probably going to start blog stalking you. :) I'm glad you've figured out how to pluralize your name. I grew up with a last name ending in an s, so I guess I'm pretty used to that type of dilemma by now.
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