Looking for the best way to translate an idiom

[Steve Holden]

James Stroud wrote:
> Aahz wrote:
>> In article <gi4834$lap$1 at zinnia.noc.ucla.edu>,
>> James Stroud  <jstroud at mbi.ucla.edu> wrote:
>>> In case its not obvious:
>>
>> Ah, so that's where Bruno's extra apostrophe came from!  ;-)
>>
>>
>> (Sorry about the spelling flame, but seeing three posts in quick
>> succession with incorrect spelling of its/it's pushed me into making a
>> public comment.)
> 
> Yes. I think it was the British who decided that the apostrophe rule for
> "it" would be reversed from normal usage relative to just about every
> other noun. I'm not sure the purpose--maybe it was to give compulsive
> proofreaders a raison d'etre.

In fact it applies to personal pronouns generally, though in English
most personal pronouns have an irregular genitive.

  I    me    my     mine
  you  you   your   yours
  he   him   his    his
  she  her   her    hers
  it   it    its    its
  we   us    our    ours
  you  you   your   yours
  they them  their  theirs

regards
 Steve
-- 
Steve Holden        +1 571 484 6266   +1 800 494 3119
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