# For Fuck's Sake, "It's" means It Is, "Its" means "belonging to it"! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823 "2007-03-14T00:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/41 "2007-03-14T13:41:42Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] Why is it when people start rational threads like this, half or more of the replies respond with doofus spellings [/QUOTE] That should be “doophus”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/42 "2007-03-14T14:42:11Z")
…and anuvver fing that gets my goat… It’s no-one not noone innit? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/43 "2007-03-14T14:49:40Z")
Idiot: I’m smart, aren’t I? Doper: Yes, and I are too! ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/44 "2007-03-14T15:24:51Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] …and anuvver fing that gets my goat… It’s no-one not noone innit? [/QUOTE] Shouldn’t that be “And anuvva fing wot gets my goat?” And yeah, bruv, it can be “no-one” or “no one.” ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/45 "2007-03-14T15:39:10Z")
[QUOTE=Seven] These threads should be lumped with the _outrage 'o the day_ threads. Someone misspelled something, someone put a puppy in a oven, won’t someone think of the children. Blah-blah. What next? A or an? There or they’re? I or me? [/QUOTE] Now you are getting into the spirit. Misuse of apostrophes is equivalent to putting puppies in ovens. A wonderful book for anyone who felt it necessary to post to this thread: [Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation](http://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592400876?tag2=gp04-20) ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/46 "2007-03-14T15:41:50Z")
From the review: > [@Publishers Weekly](#): > > A self-professed “stickler,” Truss recommends that anyone putting an apostrophe in a possessive “its”-as in “the dog chewed it’s bone”-should be struck by lightning and chopped to bits. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/47 "2007-03-14T15:48:54Z")
[QUOTE=flight] Now you are getting into the spirit. Misuse of apostrophes is equivalent to putting puppies in ovens. A wonderful book for anyone who felt it necessary to post to this thread: [Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation](http://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592400876?tag2=gp04-20) [/QUOTE] Puppies cant putt. They’re paws cant grasp the putter. And they most definately cant putt in ovens. Its two hot. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/48 "2007-03-14T15:51:20Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Look, I know this is an old complaint, but I’m starting to see this idiotic mistake **For the love of Christ** , people. “It’s” means “It is.” It’s a fucking contraction. [/QUOTE] I don’t think Christ would have cared that much. In fact, his English wasn’t that good either, as far as I can recall. And he might even have disapproved of your vulgar language. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/49 "2007-03-14T16:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] What about when it’s _Cousin It_ from the Addams Family? What then? [/QUOTE] And if you’re referring to his ice cream sandwich, then you’d say: **It’s Itt’s It’s It** ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/50 "2007-03-14T17:11:53Z")
Apparently, Arkansas’ legislature are getting in on some of this action, too. Or should I say, [“Arkansas’s.”](http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ARKANSAS_APOSTROPHE_ACT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-03-13-23-30-27) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/51 "2007-03-14T17:25:39Z")
[QUOTE=flight] A wonderful book for anyone who felt it necessary to post to this thread: [Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation](http://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592400876?tag2=gp04-20) [/QUOTE] I had multiple copies smuggled in from the U.K. before it was published in the U.S. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/52 "2007-03-14T17:26:37Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Shouldn’t that be “And anuvva fing wot gets my goat?” And yeah, bruv, it can be “no-one” or “no one.” [/QUOTE] Akshully its (heh) "an annuver fing wot gets me goat ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/53 "2007-03-14T17:54:27Z")
There’s a current Pit thread title that’s been driving me absolutely bonkers: “To those who don’t think criminals are different than you and I” No, I think criminals are different **from** you and **me.** Again, this one has an easy-peasy way to see if you’ve got the right construction–remove the “you and” part and see if it makes any sense. “A criminal is different from I?” No, “a criminal is different from **me**.” Assuming, of course, that there actually is a difference, y’know. 😉 As for the “different **than** ” construction, I myself infinitely prefer to consider it just wrong, full stop, but I did find a more lenient interpretation [here:](http://www.jeanweber.com/about/grammar2.htm) > [@](#): > > The distinction between “different from,” “different than,” and “different to.” “Different from” is traditionally used when the comparison is between two persons or things: My writing style is different from yours. “Different than” is more acceptably used where the object of comparison is expressed by a full clause: This town is different than it was 20 years ago. The construction “different to” is chiefly British; in the USA “to” gets little use and is often considered incorrect even though it is an acceptable variation. Maybe grammar errors just bug me more in thread titles because they hang around longer and I have to see them, as opposed to grammar errors in individual posts, which only piss me off once… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/54 "2007-03-14T18:35:49Z")
Another homophone that needs to be mercilessly crushed before _it’s_ becomes a frontline issue: _. . . that doesn’t **jive** with what we already know._ There was a Sr. Vice President at my last company who found a way to fit this into almost every one of her emails, and all the parrots in the office subsequently started saying it in every conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/55 "2007-03-14T18:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] - And except when the word ends in “y,” where pluralization requires that you remove the “y” and add “ies.” (“Baby/Babies,” “Twenty/Twenties,” “Pantry/Pantries.”). [/QUOTE] Unless the letter before the Y is a vowel (Day/Days, Abbey/Abbeys) ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/56 "2007-03-14T19:04:55Z")
Hmm. I expected to see at least one “get with the times, you old fuddy duddies” post by now. How about this: If the rules are so complicated that lots of people are making the same common mistakes, maybe we need to change the rules. Or maybe: If you understood what he was trying to say, where’s the problem? [QUOTE=Cisco] Another homophone that needs to be mercilessly crushed before _it’s_ becomes a frontline issue: _. . . that doesn’t **jive** with what we already know._ … [/QUOTE] I think you’re too late to do anything about this one. Better to get used to it. I’d bet that if you took a random survey on the street, you’d get the **vast** majority saying “jive” is correct usage here. If you offered “jibe” as an alternative, I think you’d get a lot of blank stares. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/57 "2007-03-14T19:06:53Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Sure, it’s a bit of a confusing topic sometimes because there _are_ a number of rules that need to be remembered: . [/QUOTE] Sez who? Who makes these “rules”? (Hint- no generally accepted body, no governmental body. There are a dozen or so prescritive stylebooks, which all disagree. There are a couple descriptive stylbooks- and they argees “If it is easily understandable and in comon usage, it’s fine”) ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/58 "2007-03-14T19:07:28Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] Puppies cant putt. They’re paws cant grasp the putter. And they most definately cant putt in ovens. Its two hot. [/QUOTE] I **definitely** have to watch my spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/59 "2007-03-14T19:44:51Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Unless the letter before the Y is a vowel (Day/Days, Abbey/Abbeys) [/QUOTE] I knew I’d forget something – yes, this one, too. It’s fun just keeping it straight in _my own_ head. > [@"DrDeth](#): > > Sez who? Who makes these “rules”? > > (Hint- no generally accepted body, no governmental body. There are a dozen or so prescritive stylebooks, which all disagree. There are a couple descriptive stylbooks- and they argees “If it is easily understandable and in comon usage, it’s fine”) I’d rather this not turn into a prescriptivism/descriptivism debate, nor one on whose book is “more correct.” Without digging down into the niggling bits of grammar that linguists debate endlessly over, the vast majority of these rules are just common sense. They are intended to provide clarity of expression by providing guidelines that eliminate ambiguous constructions. Word forms whose meanings may be obvious when used a particular way in certain contexts may not be when used the same way in other contexts. When you create ambiguities by failing to define rules on such usage, you just end up confusing the people who are trying to learn how to use it properly. I fail to see a problem with defining and adhering to rules of language, and citing a lack of concrete definition by a governing body seems like a bit of a straw man to me. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823/60 "2007-03-14T20:08:04Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] the vast majority of these rules are just common sense. They are intended to provide clarity of expression by providing guidelines that eliminate ambiguous constructions. [/QUOTE] There was a time when I thinked that was true. Not anymore. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-fucks-sake-its-means-it-is-its-means-belonging-to-it/395823.md?page=4)