Over-possessive
Sir: I am concerned about the changes in The Spectator's policy on apostrophes. In sev- eral articles, notably that of Andrew Dickson on George Wigg and Roy Roebuck's letter on the same person (28 November), super- fluous apostrophes occur. It seems to me that one could have been Wilson's friend, a friend of Wilson's friend, but not 'Goodman was a close friend of Wilson's and I doubt . . . ', or `. . I was a close friend of Wigg's for the last 23 years . . . '. Perhaps these are examples of New Grammar?
Steven Spurrier
10 Playfair Mansions, Queens Club Gardens, London W14
Dot Wordsworth writes: The Spectator has no `policy' on apostrophes, I am glad to hear, beyond the dictates of good English. The so- called double possessive was used in the phrase 'a friend of his' by Chaucer and must have been used in such contexts by every eminent writer of English since. It is an idiom thoroughly grounded in the structure of English grammar. It usefully distinguishes concepts such as 'a picture of the king' and `a picture of the king's'.
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