English

Check out the etymology of the word bad (via Volokh Conspiracy who got it from Language Log) :

Prof. Zupitza, with great probability, sees in bad-de (2 syll.) the ME. repr. of OE. bæddel ‘homo utriusque generis, hermaphrodita’ ... and the derivative bædling ‘effeminate fellow, womanish man ...’ applied contemptuously; assuming a later adjectival use, as in yrming, wrecca, and loss of final l as in mycel, muche, lytel, lyte, wencel, wench(e. This perfectly suits the ME. form and sense, and accounts satisfactorily for the want of early written examples. And it is free from the many historical and phonetic difficulties of the derivation proposed by Sarrazin [which ends up relating it to an OE. word meaning ‘forced, oppressed’] .... No other suggestion yet offered is of any importance; the Celtic words sometimes compared are out of the question.

Oh snap!

If ever a bill needed a thoughtful veto. . .

I know how to make a plural form from a proper noun than ends in “s” like say, Jess or Missus.

. . .or ARKANSAS!

Put the apostrophe after the “s” and you’re done. And if you don’t have a clue or aren’t completely sure, don’t go around telling people you are, much less legislating that they do it your way. And then people won’t think you dumb. How hard is that?

This goes for academics, not just lawmakers. Think through your own case before you go setting standards for the whole population. Otherwise you might make apple-arkansauce of the whole mess. Or maybe this prescriptive English professor's argument is just too subtle for me (?)

Apostrophes will disappear because
1) We read and write less now, AND
2) We read and write more now.

The apostrophe may be disappearing in part because students increasingly learn by hearing, rather than by reading and seeing words, and many people communicate electronically, Slattery suggested.

“The culture is more aural than in the past,” Slattery said. “Conventions are evolving for communicating electronically. For many people using e-mail, there is a sense that prose doesn’t have to be technically correct. It’s especially difficult with instant messaging to proofread and to write in standard usage.”