How does one formulate a possessive of a name that is itself already in possessive form ("'s")? Is the name just treated as a unitary term and modified accordingly? Is this even possible in formal English?
Actual example in context from http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=40435.msg377758#msg377758 :
Two best lists I've found:
https://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-report-malware-or-false-positives-multiple-antivirus-vendors.htm -- though I'm loathe to ever link there as I dislike the mods so much, Chiron deserves props for creating and frequently updating this almost comprehensive list
https://www.opswat.com/blog/what-do-i-do-if-engine-detects-my-safe-file-threat -- needs updating but includes a few outside Chiron's ambit/Gizmo's' policy (What is the possessive of a name that is itself a possessive?)
Yes, I could have finessed the issue by reformulated the sentence slightly (i.e., "policy of").
As a former data processing developer, I've found person names an especially difficult concept to model and implement. Thank goodness I never had to deal with the glyph used by the musician formerly known as Prince. Does anyone have an example of an actual person's name with this formulation? I used to work with someone who collected "odd to Western sensibilities" example names but I've lost touch.
This is a problem I've had in other contexts with corporate names. My favorite pizza place is "Mia's". In line with the US Supreme Court ruling, I frequently hear a business treated as a person in colloquially usage.
Some may take exception to "though", prefer an attributive rather than possessive in the context of "policy", or otherwise question my choices herein. This is a linguistics forum. Have at it in the comments unless applicable to the question. (Have fun. Bonus point from me for a comment with an especially amusing or thought provoking example or that is generally witty or pithy if remotely on point.)
Whether/when a possessive of a noun ending is "s" is formed by a trailing apostrophe or apostrophe-s is mildly off topic unless directly applicable (i.e., because example is a proper name, already in possessive form, or an exception).
