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Is there a possessive for the word "Crohn's"?

duh panda

duh panda

Location
Denver, CO
I'm working on a formal essay submission and need input. I figure, if anyone would know it's someone here.

Grammar buffs, I NEED you.

Would the possessive of Crohn's be spelled Crohn's'? Or just left Crohn's?

Sentence I need it for:

"No aspect of my life was left untouched, and my loving relationship with food unraveled as I experienced Crohn’s’ all-encompassing impact."

I'm sure I could rework the word order, but I'm limited to a set word count and I'm a bit fond of the flow.
 
Jennifer

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
Crohn's was named after Burrill Bernard Crohn who was a GI doctor. It's already possessive. Maybe rewording it to, "No aspect of my life was left untouched, and my loving relationship with food unraveled as I experienced the all-encompassing impact of Crohn's," or something like that. I'm no writer though.
 
B

Bunty

Location
UK
I'm not a writer or grammar buff either but to use two apostrophes just looks all wrong. I'd tend go with what Jennifer suggests, or if you wanted to keep your own wording then I'd leave out the apostrophe after the s ....crohn's rather than crohn's'
An interesting question though :)
Bunty x
 
Scipio

Scipio

Well-known member
Location
San Diego
I suggest:

"No aspect of my life was left untouched, and my loving relationship with food was unraveled by the all-encompassing impact of Crohn's."
 
Agent X20

Agent X20

Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Using two apostrophes is ugly (although I don't know if it is actually more correct).
Using one is incorrect... if you think of a sentence like: my best birthday present was John's, none of the others matched John's special appeal. The meaning has changed.
You shouldn't have to change the sentence, but it's probably the best solution.
 
DEmberton

DEmberton

Location
Stuttgart
"Crohn's" is a shortened version of "Crohn's Disease" so you can always say "Crohn's Disease's symptoms" or whatever.

But when would you use a possessive? You can say cancer symptoms or cancer's symptoms; the first is simply an adjective. So maybe there's no case where you can't simply say "Crohn's" instead of the possessive which probably should be "Crohn's'".

:shifty-t:
 
L

Lizzie

Location
East Midlands
Jennifer said:
Crohn's was named after Burrill Bernard Crohn who was a GI doctor. It's already possessive. Maybe rewording it to, "No aspect of my life was left untouched, and my loving relationship with food unraveled as I experienced the all-encompassing impact of Crohn's," or something like that. I'm no writer though.
Click to expand...
Just out of interest, do you know how his name was pronounced? I thought it was like "crone" and so "crone's" disease, but my GI consultant calls my ailment "krons" disease.
 
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