# It's and Its: a poll **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852 "2016-08-24T21:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/41 "2016-08-26T00:04:06Z")
The it’s vs its issue annoys me, and I do what I can to combat it. I cover in class on a fairly regular basis, but not more than once per semester. I’ll mention it when I wind up writing one or both on the board at the same time. I’m a math professor. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/42 "2016-08-27T20:17:11Z")
> [@Anita Dayoff](#): > > Adolph Hitler’s speechwriters were the original grammar Nazis Period. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2016, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/43 "2016-08-27T23:09:23Z")
As it’s vs its doesn’t bother me too much, here’s my rant: why are people dropping the middle consonant in pronunciations? When I began to pay attention to it, it was “di-in’t”, now it’s “pitcher” for “picture” and “recanize” for “recognize”. Even talking heads on TV are saying this now. It really irritates me. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/44 "2016-08-28T23:26:54Z")
What grinds my gears is when my choice in a poll turns out to be the most popular choice. Grrr!! I hate being mainstream. And using an apostrophe where you are trying to express a plural is even worse, as in “Back in the 80’s, we used to…” ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/45 "2016-08-28T23:47:51Z")
> [@Anita\_Dayoff](#): > > Adolph Hitler’s speechwriters were the original grammar Nazis Apostrophes are appropriate when pluralizing something like an acronym: NAZI’s. > [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > And using an apostrophe where you are trying to express a plural is even worse, as in “Back in the 80’s, we used to…” Same with numbers. At least we do it right in America: > [@](#): > > See Lynne Truss’s ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’ (2003). She writes on p46: > > only one significant task has been lifted from the apostrophe’s workload in recent years: it no longer has to appear in the plurals of abbreviations … . Until quite recently, it was customary to write “MP’s” and “1980’s” - and in fact this convention still applies in America. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/46 "2016-08-29T01:27:02Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > Apostrophes are appropriate when pluralizing something like an acronym: NAZI’s. “Nazi” is arguably an abbreviation, but it’s not an acronym. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/47 "2016-08-29T01:43:59Z")
I am willing to concede that point. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/48 "2016-08-29T03:29:36Z")
The one that bothers me more and I see more abuse of is ‘to’ and ‘too’. Mostly on Facebook. “We skipped practice. To hot.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/49 "2016-08-29T13:08:03Z")
It annoys the hell out of me, to the point where I voted, “I reach for my revolver”, but, truth be told, misuse and/or confusion of “there”, “their”, and “they’re” is worse. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/50 "2016-08-29T13:08:32Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > “We skipped practice. To hot.” Hotting when you should have been practicing, eh? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/51 "2016-08-29T13:22:07Z")
> [@Sampsiceramos](#): > > Conflating “its” with “it’s” annoys me to be sure, but it’s one of the lesser sins people commit to writing today. > > On the other hand, I have a number of purportedly well-educated acquaintances who consistently write “would of” when they mean “would have”. Every time this happens, I find myself briefly considering the merits of a grammar-based eugenics program before remembering that being an illiterate moron despite years of excellent education is only _almost_ as bad as eugenics. What would be the punishment prescribed by this program for misusing conflating in place of confusing? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/52 "2016-08-29T13:33:00Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > The one that bothers me more and I see more abuse of is ‘to’ and ‘too’. > Mostly on Facebook. > “We skipped practice. To hot.” Considering that people are dropping entire words (“Want to come with?”), maybe they’re going on a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Prolly not tho. Its just stupidity rearing its ugly head. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/53 "2016-08-29T18:09:27Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > “Its” where “It’s” should be … barely noticeable. I presume they’re using some input device where the addition of an apostrophe is a royal pain in the butt. In fact I myself wouldn’t go through _very_ much inconvenience to insert an apostrophe where it should be’ Agreed. If the meaning is clear, no biggie. ---
**Author:** ![Sampsiceramos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Sampsiceramos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampsiceramos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/54 "2016-08-29T18:16:35Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > What would be the punishment prescribed by this program for misusing conflating in place of confusing? None, given that conflate in the sense of “to fail to properly distinguish or keep separate; to treat as equivalent” is a dictionary-accepted usage of the word. It may not be the strict original sense of the word, but then, the earliest recorded usage of “conflate” in its most restricted sense (that being to fuse or unite, roughly equivalent to a syncretism) is from 1585, and I can think of few words which have not undergone at least some small change in meaning or appropriate usage over the last half-millennia. That, and even if conflate _were_ misused (which I think I have argued rather convincingly that it is not), there is a rather large gap between misuse of an esoteric word and failing entirely to grasp the proper usage of a staple component of the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/55 "2016-08-29T19:15:41Z")
“I do it right. I don’t worry about what other people do.” ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/56 "2016-08-29T20:35:29Z")
Apostrophe’s to pluralize bug’s me to no end. _:duck’s and run’s:_ ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/57 "2016-08-29T20:46:36Z")
I put the person on my “list.” As I do when the person writes or says “Just between you and I.” Or uses the pronunciation “Nucular.” But many people who commit these sins are very good friends, and I wouldn’t correct them unless they asked me to proofread something for them. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852/58 "2016-08-29T21:39:53Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > It annoys the hell out of me, to the point where I voted, “I reach for my revolver”, but, truth be told, misuse and/or confusion of “there”, “their”, and “they’re” is worse. Theirs know way thats werser. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-and-its-a-poll/763852.md?page=2)