I was taught that the noun, if it end with an S, takes only an apostrophe. And I wasn't raised by wolves or anything like that. Newton, Mass. -- good public schools.

Was your MOTW assessment in any way influenced by the presence of Oprah in the cast?

"The Help", "The Butler"...It might be wishful thinking, but America seems to want to reach a settlment or cast a new narrative for the post-racial era. All very nice, but these films bore me something rotten.

On the subject of apostrophes, generally, I think plurals shouldn't have a further 's' added, but other words ending in 's' can depending on whether or not it sounds natural: Jones' legacy, the dogs' food, Thomas's doubt.

"Mrs. Trovillion would turn over in her grave if she was dead."

....if she were dead. (Shame on you.)

Was I taught incorrectly about that also?

Sorry--you were taught WRONG. Right on, whiskey!!!

There was a Broadway revue called (by the producers) Jerome Robbins' Broadway. Every time The New York Times referred to the show they "changed" the title (correctly) to "Jerome Robbins's Broadway."

This chat has succeeded in making me not care anymore. But if anyone dares to call the monster in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's masterpiece "Frankenstein," I am prepared to open up a big can of whup-tush and unload a world of pain! Refer to it as "the monster," or "Frankenstein's monster," and we will be happily putting on the Ritz.

This chat has succeeded in making me not care anymore. But if anyone dares to call the monster in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's masterpiece "Frankenstein," I am prepared to open up a big can of whup-tush and unload a world of pain! Refer to it as "the monster," or "Frankenstein's monster," and we will be happily putting on the Ritz.

I'd be more frustrated by someone calling that imaginative and innovative but hopelessly clunky and clumsily realized work of fiction with leaden characters spouting unspeakable dialogue a "masterpiece".