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February 22, 2007 |
Dear Ask Mr. English Major,
James J. Kilpatrick recently wrote a column eschewing the double possessive. When Garrison Keillor on his radio show, speaking of a man who had recently died, described the fellow as "a friend of Butch Thompson's", I started to gloat. Had I caught the venerable GK in an error of English usage? According to Mr. Kilpatrick, he should properly have said, a friend of Butch Thompson." But then, just a few moments later, GK was introducing the next musical number which was a "piece of Butch Thompson's". Now I am really confused. How could they possibly play a "piece of Butch Thompson"?
Please help me sort this out, it's been eating at me for two days.
I am glad somebody takes grammar seriously, but two days of suffering is too much. The double possessive construction you cite is utterly common and has been for centuries and thus is acceptable. It's what people actually say, as opposed to what logic might dictate. It's a useful construction. There is a difference between "a picture of my brother" and "a picture of my brother's," for example. Or "a piece of Butch Thompson's" and "a piece of Butch Thompson". But we'd say "a friend of public radio" or "a friend of the spotted owl". Quite an interesting language you chose for your first language, Doug.