An apostrophe question

Bobbie   Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:02 am GMT
Would someone look at this sentence and tell me if the apostrophe after the s in ones is correct?

An emotional response to an attack on ones' family is what I call righteous indignation, and you had ever right to put folks on notice that it cuts to the heart and is not going to be well received.

Thanks
Bobbie   Wed Feb 13, 2008 1:04 am GMT
That should have been, "every right."
guest   Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:24 am GMT
<<An emotional response to an attack on ones' family is what I call righteous indignation, and you had ever right to put folks on notice that it cuts to the heart and is not going to be well received.
>>

I would have use <one's> [i.e. an attack on someone's family; an attack on a person's family], but I suppose plural would work too [an attack on ones' family, ?; an attack on persons' family...]
hmmm. No, I think it's correct to use the singular here <one's>

Although you can use "one" in plural form for such things as individuals: "those young ones", here in this example, it renders "an attack on individuals' family = "the attack on the family of individuals"...that just sounds funny. It's a usage error at least.
GAEian   Wed Feb 13, 2008 3:58 am GMT
I'd also vote for "one's" here, rather than "ones'". Maybe it's different in the UK, CAN, NZ, AUS tough.
Skippy   Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:24 am GMT
It would be "one's." Although it's a pronoun, it uses the apostrophe; and one is singular, so "ones'" makes no sense.