What would be correct “Businessman’s club” or “Businessmen’s club”?

american-englishbritish-english

What would be correct "Businessman's club" or "Businessmen's club"?
If there is a difference, British version.

(just in case, or "Businessman club" or "Businessmen club" or any other forms?)

Best Answer

Both versions are OK. Businessmen's club conveys the idea that the club has businessmen as its members. Businessman's club, on the other hand, conveys the idea that this is a club that a typical businessman would join; businessman in that phrase stands for a typical representative of the class of businessmen, and thus, in a way, for the class as a whole, in spite of being grammatically singular.

These are subtly different ideas, but the difference between them rarely makes any practical difference. Both singular and plural versions of such phrases can thus be used for the same purposes, and one can find plenty of examples of both (in both British and American English).

When the relevant noun has a regular plural, any difference between the two versions will be lost in spoken language, and may be lost even in written language, if the writer is careless about the use of apostrophes. It is anybody's guess whether a sign saying Hunters Lodge is intended to stand for a hunters' lodge or a hunter's lodge.

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