October 2025 Newsletter

Welcome to the October 2025 newsletter from the Apostrophe Protection Society.

If you’re a new member, you’ve already had a personal welcome — but let me say it again: Welcome! And to all our long-standing members, thank you, as always, for your continued support.

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Apostrophes in the media

There's been very little media coverage of apostrophes since the last newsletter. I'd like to think that this is because everyone now knows how to use them correctly, and that no further education is required. But sadly — and realistically — this isn't the case, as illustrated by the latest photos on the Examples page on the website. Why not take a look and see some of the horrors that have been sent in by members? If you find a particularly good or bad example of apostrophe misuse, please email me with your evidence and I'll see if I can add it to the gallery.

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Website store

Many of you are already purchasing apostrophe-related items through our website store — thank you! I've added a couple of new products, so why not browse the store to see if there's anything you'd like to purchase. Christmas is coming up, and you might find a T-shirt, sweatshirt, or hoodie that's just right for someone — or yourself!

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Double Genitive - is it "a friend of Bob" or "a friend of Bob's"?

In the last newsletter, I introduced you to the delights of the attributive noun. This time, I'd like to bring you another unusual construction — the double genitive, or double possessive.

At first glance, the use of of and a possessive apostrophe may look wrong. But the "double genitive" (or double possessive) has been in use in English since the 14th century. It’s a syntactic construction in English in which possession is marked both by the preposition of and a noun or pronoun in the possessive case — as in "A friend of Bob’s is a friend of mine".

In most usage cases, both options are correct and are in established usage and, critically, both are entirely clear in meaning. Note that in the case of "a friend of mine", mine is a possessive pronoun, and substituting it with a regular pronoun doesn’t read well — "a friend of me" is not good English.

The use of the double genitive can sometimes clarify the precise meaning of a phrase - for example, "a photograph of Bob’s" implies that the photograph belongs to Bob, whereas "a photograph of Bob" is a photograph where Bob is the subject rather than merely the owner.

Some style guides prefer to avoid the use of the double genitive altogether by rewording what is being said — e.g. "one of Bob’s friends". But generally, either form can be used — if it sounds right, it probably is. 

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A Witty Word - Correction

Last time, I mentioned an APS member, David Withey, who had written an audiobook you might enjoy. I erroneously gave you a slightly incorrect title, which may have led you to entirely the wrong content. David pointed this out, and I said I'd issue a correction in the next newsletter. So, the correct title is Beware of the Old Bull. It's a clever and entertaining look at the rise of hype, buzzwords and management speak — and its effect on clear communication — and is available from all the usual audiobook platforms. 

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That's all for this month, and probably this year. I'll be back again with the next newsletter in January 2026. Thank you for being part of the APS. Your support — and your passion for the apostrophe — are always appreciated.

Best wishes,

Bob