Whoops! Watch those "relative" plurals.

If you decide to tell tales on your in-laws, be sure to use the correct plural and possessive forms. The reporter covering the deposition of disgraced former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in Birmingham last week paraphrased a comment by Scrushy and used poor grammar in doing so:



Scrushy said those on the list (of approved telephone numbers he can call from prison) include wife Leslie, son-in-laws Mike Plaia and Martin Adams, and Jim Parkman....



Whoops! When you want to make son-in-law or mother-in-law plural, you add the S to the FIRST word of the compound, NOT the last. The reporter should have written this:



Scrushy said those on the list include wife Leslie, sons-in-law Mike Plaia and Martin Adams, and Jim Parkman....



Now, if Mr. Scrushy had wanted to note that all of his missing assets might be found at the home of one of his sons-in-law or at the home of his mother-in-law, he might have stated this:



All of that cash can be found in my older son-in-law's garage, and the jewelry I didn't give away is hidden in my mother-in-law's bedroom closet.



PLEASE NOTE: Like the prosecutors, I have no idea where Mr. Scrushy's assets are. This sentence is merely a hypothetical example for all my GrammarGlitch Central readers.