>> Does anyone really believe, because we call a particular hump in Colorado
>> "Pike's Peak," that it ever belonged to Zebulon Pike? Or that "Boyle's
>> Law" is the personal property of Robert Boyle and his descendants?

Well no, no one believes that. So why not let language reflect the reality?
Let the possessive be used when it's appropriate, and not when it's not.

>It's Pikes Peak. The USGS did, in fact, decide that geologic features
>don't belong to anyone. No apostophes. The chemists, however, do let
>Boyle keep his law.

Score one for the barbarians! ;-)

>It's bad enough to see the language destroyed with signs like "Whole
>Turkey's >33c/lb" at Safeway's.

Couldn't agree more, *that* is truly atrocious. But, to belabor my point,
why continue to enforce rules when they make no sense? And using
apostrophies on honorific names makes *no* sense. Not to me, anyway...

Rob Saecker
Olympia