If some leading journal
or magazine were to write somebody else as one word, others would,
doubtless, follow, and the question of the possessive would settle
itself. The word notwithstanding is composed of three separate words,
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which are no more closely united in thought than are the three words
some, body, and else. Two of the latter are already united, and the
close mental union of the third with the first and second would
justify the innovation.
But the words are at present disunited. A majority of the best writers
still conform to the old custom of placing the possessive with else.
"People were so ridiculous with their illusions, carrying their fool's
caps unawares, thinking their own lies opaque, while everybody else's
were transparent."-- George Eliot.
Some make a distinction by placing the possessive with else when the
noun follows, and with somebody when the noun precedes; as, "This is
somebody else's pencil," and "This pencil is somebody's else." This
distinction is not generally followed.
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CHAPTER V
Pronouns
The correct use of the pronouns, personal and relative, involves a
degree of skill which many speakers and writers fail to possess.
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