If there is no such phrase as Shanks Pony then clearly the question was wrong and had an S missing. But you shouldn't use an incorrect question on a TV quiz to justify incorrect use of grammar! And re your last sentence, without wishing to be rude, I do not see the amusement because clearly the reality is that what you have posted on this thread does indeed demonstrate an ignorance of basic grammar.

I've just put "Shanks pony" into Goggle (with no apostrophes) and got entries from online dictionaries for both "Shanks's pony" and "Shanks' pony".

So I don't know what some people are going on about.

I h8 peple that point out peoples' teribel grammar & spellng and try to make themselfs look superier to othres As u can c evry 1 noes wat I am saying Evan tho I have intentianally don baad speeling n grammer to prove a poynt wee al no watt I amm say ing and understand it so wat is the probblem !

REESPECK!

No, you just don't know your idioms. Shanks's Pony can be written Shanks' Pony. OED states that. It doesn't give alternative pronunciation. There's no evidence of one. They are pronounced the same way. Of course a team of OC researchers, question setters, checkers must be wrong!

My last word on the subject (honest!): I don't see how you can pronounce an s that isn't there.

What's Newcastle United's ground called, and how's that pronounced?

Is it shanks' pony stadium? I don't know much about footy ((sorry football)(sorry soccer))

St. James's Park.

Exactly!

http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Club/StJamesPark/Home

Have a quick look at their site. Then get yourself up to Newcastle and persuade the fans it's really St James Park.

Good luck.

Very wrong.

No, exactly, 100% correct.

Why would I want to persuade fans it's really St James Park when I have already stated that it isn't?

You've stopped making sense, and I'm bored now.

Sports Direct Stadium.

I believe its pronounced "Spurts Dee-rekkt mann, how-way"

Sport's Direct, surely!?

No I haven't stopped making sense, that is a lazy, nonsensical comment. I should think everyone else was bored a long time ago.

Dllpnc Ttnpd Ntr Yklln Gthrd

Well you've resorted to insisting a football ground is called something other than which it really is, so I'd say that's pretty much in the area of nonsense!

Spelled: St James' Park
Pronounced: St James's Park

^ There are entries for St James's Park but they all seem to refer to the park in London.

I was always taught that if the name ends in s then to just add an apostrophe to it (when writing). However, when pronouncing it, you usually end up saying the extra s anyway. If it were me, then I would have agreed with awarding the point (although personally, I don't feel that question should have been used because of it possibly being contentious, but that's just me).

This just seems to be one of those 'quirks' that the English language has.

Wongadrome, that's pronounced W-o-n-g-a-d-ro-m-e.

Because English is a strange language.

The reality is, the phrase is pronounced 'shankses pony.'

It can be written in one of two ways because the language and its grammar evolved in an irregular fashion which throws up exceptions which are either amusing or annoying depending on your take on such things, but each is considered correct by opposing groups of grammatical experts.

The spelling of it doesn't change the pronunciation, so whilst one could argue that the question was incorrect, the answer given was actually right because they were looking for a well-known phrase and 'shankses pony' qualifies whilst 'shanks pony' does not.

What on earth are people arguing about?


Shanks' pony and Shanks's pony are both pronounced the same but can be written either way.

Yes, we all know there are two different accepted spellings, the only contentious point is whether the one with one S goes -ziz at the end or not. The only independent source quoted so far says it doesn't; crucially as the setter DB thinks it doesn't; and I can't see why there still seem to be one or two who think it does and others who can't see that the question is how it's pronounced and not how it's written.

I used to work with someone called Anita who used to get quite angry when people didn't sound the 't' in her name properly because of the glottal-stop. She might have complained too if they'd put two t's in there for some reason.