Question for Grammarians

Today's question, possessive combined with abbreviations...

Company name is: Widgets Corp.

Widgets Corp. is the legal name, they do not use Corporation, ever.

So, how would you show possession...

Widgets Corp.'s
Widgets Corp's

or something else entirely?

Inverting the sentence to avoid possession is not an option.

 

Googled a lot but no luck.
I suggest to take a look at the DISCLAIMER and PRIVACY POLICY pages on the company's website. You might get some clue about the company name's usage.
Or you might even find out something on a copy of any of the company's licenses.

 

Great suggestion. Further research proved that the client does in fact use "Corporation". Makes much more sense. Never did find the right way. We went with Corp.'s. But, were I to do anything else for them it would definitely by Corporation's. sigh. clients, can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

 

Thanks YMC. There's lots of stuff on Google, but could not find anything related to the specific word 'Corp.'. Mostly all say that you have to copy the company's legal name as it is when using possessive apostrophes with it, unless specified otherwise in the company policy.

 

I would go for Corp.'s if that is the Company's legal name then . is part of it and should not be dropped.

 

Do you know any reference on the web that deals with this? I mean the dot (.) specifically. I was not able to find anything.

 

This.

If they're using it as shorthand for "Corporation", you can use the full word. If their legal, registered name is "Widgets Corp." then the "." is a part of their name, so you have to include it, then put the apostrophe after it. It looks completely stupid, but it's their fault for having a dumb name.

The only place you wouldn't reproduce the "." is at the end of a sentence, purely because it would confuse people to see "Widgets Corp.." - question of style, and all that.

 

Agree. Actually that's why I hesitated to settle on including the dot with the apostrophe.

 

This is why "clever" company names are such a pain in the posterior. There's a rule for people with companies like "MacDonald's", but when people start calling their company "!Squiggle'p*wiggle#", it's all a bit pointless!

 

A client called me with the question. It was one of his clients. My guy swore they never, ever spelled it out. A trip to their website said they did. sigh

Never did find an authoritative source for the issue. Though it does seem if the proper name includes the period, any possessive form would have to as well.

 

Same here. I guess this thread is the first one.

 

Just found this one: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/grammarlogs3/grammarlogs481.htm
Check for post “Charleston, West Virginia Thu, Feb 21, 2002” (without the quotes).
There are even two authoritative books cited at the end – 1) The Gregg Reference Manual by William A. Sabin. 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill: New York. 2001, p. 156 and 2) New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage HarperCollins: New York. 1994, p. 272.
Can be partly previewed on Google Books. (Haven't taken a look though.)
It's clearly stated that you HAVE TO include the period with the possessive apostrophe - “ABC Distributing Inc.'s new policy or ABC Distributing, Inc.'s new policy”.

Hope this helps.

 

Cool. Makes sense if that's the legal name. Now hopefully if anyone else ever searches for this, they'll find this thread.

 

Thanks YMC.

 

That may be true. However, I'm not sure how serious of an offense it would be. I would just think it was a typo if it's wrong.

 

I would just look it up. Usually, finding the correct company doesn't take long to locate. Unless it's totally obscure.

 

It should be included, but it really depends on the context. Unless it was a formal document it really doesn't matter. The most important thing is to be understood. It will be understood which ever way you write it.

 

I have also a problem with grammar.

 

Altering a company's registered name in any way can lead to situations you don't want to be in. Grammar, thankfully, is not intolerant of this fact . "Widgets Corp.'s" it is!

 

No doubt about it. The correct way of writing it is Widgets Corp.'s.