STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

sephorablue · Marc Jacobs

OK grammar nerds...

Kitty · Hermes

Yup, you're right.

jacks435 · Kenneth Cole

You are definitely right on that one. It's like the weeks own the worth, if that makes any sense. That's how I think of it, anyway.

But it should be there -- your prof is wrong!

calico · Kenneth Cole

I think I am probably wrong here, since two others have already said differently, but I think your prof might be right. I think that saying "several hours' worth" is different than saying "money's worth" I'm just not sure if I can explain how...

For some reason "several hours' worth" just looks wrong to me; can you ask another prof maybe before you approach her? Or find the info on the internet maybe?

NCshopper · Hermes

I'm pretty sure you're right on this one, sephorablue.

Kelly · Hermes

calico wrote:

I think I am probably wrong here, since two others have already said differently, but I think your prof might be right. I think that saying "several hours' worth" is different than saying "money's worth" I'm just not sure if I can explain how...

For some reason "several hours' worth" just looks wrong to me; can you ask another prof maybe before you approach her? Or find the info on the internet maybe?

I kind of think it's still wrong, too. I understand what you're saying and your reasoning, but I do think that money's worth is different from hours worth. I'm having a hard time articulating how I think it's different. I feel like "several hours" is marking the amount of the worth of the work. But in money's worth, the money is the actual worth of it, it's not a marking. That didn't make any sense. I'll come back and edit while I think of a better way to explain this. You know this'll be bugging me all day.

I have a Latin class today, and everyone is grammar nerds in there out of necessity. I'll bring it up there :)

ETA: I did think about a better way to say what I mean. I think that an hour is a measure of time, therefore a way to measure the worth. An hour worth of work is a way to say how much work there was. Same with two hours worth of work. Money's worth isn't a measurement, because money is worth, and therefore putting "money" in front doesn't measure how much worth there is, only says what kind of worth it is. But now reading cc's post, I'm not sure, because I still think there is a difference between "two hours worth" and "two arm's length." So now I officially have no stance, because I can see this going either way.

-- Edited by ttara123 at 20:08, 2006-09-01

cc · Marc Jacobs

The possessive isn't only used in cases of possession/ownership.

According to the American Heritage Book of English Usage:

IN English the possessive case is used to show not only simple possession but also a variety of other relationships between the noun marked for possession and the noun that follows:
John’s car the senator’s aide (possession or belonging)
the tide’s ebbing, Amy’s presentation (subject of an action)
the company’s owners, the hero’s betrayal (object of an action)
learner’s dictionary, a women’s college (description or type)
my father’s gentleness, the character’s greed (attribute)
the bird’s wing, the book’s cover (a constituent part)
Beethoven’s symphonies, grandmother’s letter (origin)
a day’s journey, an arm’s length (measure or amount)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours is a form of measurement just like days and arms so following this logic you should use the possessive.

BTW if you ever have a grammar question and don't have a grammar or style book on hand you can always check the English usage reference section on Bartleby. I also find it helpful to run a search in Google news to see what the various newspapers do, though of course they do make mistakes sometimes.

-- Edited by cc at 12:05, 2006-09-01

blubirde · Chanel

Sephorablue - unless there's some exception specifically relating to the phrase "several hour's worth," that I'm not aware of, you're right.

halleybird · Hermes

I am pretty sure you're right, for the reasons cc posted.