Talk:Hundred Years War

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Revision as of 14:24, 4 June 2009 by imported>James F. Perry (→‎Apostrophe: argument for no apostrophe)
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 Definition Lengthy, intermittent warfare between English and French forces over feudal territorial rights and succession to the French crown. [d] [e]
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Apostrophe

What do you reckon about use of an apostrophe in the title of this article? I expected Hundred Years' War but did find that most books listed on Amazon UK omit it, and publishers' notes seem to specify that no apostrophe should be used (e.g. Blackwell). However, I think the apostrophe is technically correct: cf. a few minutes' wait or three weeks' notice. John Stephenson 05:33, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

In the phrase a few minutes' wait, we are specifying the duration of the waiting period (a wait of two minutes duration, in effect). However, with the Hundred Years War, the phrase is not so much specifying the duration of the War (though that was its approximate duration) as the name of the war. Apart from that, the non-use of theapostrophe seems to be the norm (in books, for example). James F. Perry 20:24, 4 June 2009 (UTC)