# Monkey With a Gun Needs to be Disarmed **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 30, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473 "2011-01-30T02:04:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/41 "2011-02-02T16:46:33Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I would recommend everyone read a GD thread by the subject of this pitting on why there are so few black Olympic swimmers. I don’t think you’ll bother attempting to give him evidence again. I remember that thread, and never thought it was that bad. By the second page, it was rendered unsalvageable, though not by him. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/42 "2011-02-02T16:48:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > No, I wouldn’t. It depends on how the question is being asked. If “It” is a real honest-to-goodness name, then, yes, it’s “It’s.” Tell me, how would you indicate possession of the various names in my post? > > In the particular case in the OP, I’d probably lean more towards “Its”, for the reasons I stated above (I still think it acts as a pronoun, despite the capitalization), **but if someone wants to parse it as a proper name** (for example, as an actual nickname), “It’s” is correct. Like I said, I can go either way on this particular case. However, in a case where somebody’s forename or surname is “It,” there is no ambiguity, “It’s” is correct. Why would anybody want to do that, though, other than to create a special case for making “It’s” a legitimate possessive form? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/43 "2011-02-02T17:52:09Z")
> [@GiantRat](#): > > You would be wrong. > > And, in keeping with the spirit of things: Goddamned fucking shit. Helldamnfuckwhore. Sorry, but you are incorrect. There is no difference between “It’s Dave’s” and “It’s It’s”. Try to get past the grammar rules drilled into your head and treat the second “It” as a proper name, i.e., “My friend’s name is It. If you see that new Corvette around town, it’s It’s.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/44 "2011-02-02T17:53:02Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Why would anybody want to do that, though, other than to create a special case for making “It’s” a legitimate possessive form? Why not? If you have a friend, and you nickname him “It” because he reminds of the monster on the posters for the movie, or say it’s your stagename (as in the case of Tony Särkkä, a Swedish black metal multi-instrumentalist), then “It’s” is absolutely the correct form. Eventually, the word crosses over from being merely a dressed-up pronoun to a true proper noun, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/45 "2011-02-02T18:18:09Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I remember that thread, and never thought it was that bad. By the second page, it was rendered unsalvageable, though not by him. Really? He asked why there aren’t more black swimmers and called everyone else hypersensitive when they quoted studies that point to cultural reasons. The only people he didn’t dismiss were people who said there were genetic reasons. Grade A stupidity. He wanted a genetic explanation so he kept pushing until someone offered one. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/46 "2011-02-02T18:44:32Z")
Warren Moon or Reverend Moon have no problem with “blew moon”. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/47 "2011-02-02T19:02:04Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Really? He asked why there aren’t more black swimmers and called everyone else hypersensitive when they quoted studies that point to cultural reasons. The only people he didn’t dismiss were people who said there were genetic reasons. > > Grade A stupidity. He wanted a genetic explanation so he kept pushing until someone offered one. That’s not what happened. He asked if there may be a biological explanation, and requested that no one plop in to say “culture” without any adding anything that would help answer his question. That is not to say that culture has been automatically dismissed as a valid cause; it _is_ to say inserting that as a robo-answer and nothing else is not useful. By page two I stopped reading because I couldn’t hear anything over the shrieks of “raaccciissssm!!!” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/48 "2011-02-02T19:35:00Z")
People are welcome to read [the thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=577677) and decide for themselves. I think it becomes obvious very early on that he is asserting a genetic difference. He even says “There is a genetic component. It is there.” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/49 "2011-02-02T19:37:01Z")
> [@](#): > > “It’s It’s” > [@](#): > > it’s It’s." Monty Python’s Flying Circus. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/50 "2011-02-02T19:37:28Z")
Are we going to rehash a discussion that was pointless and asinine then, or are we going to continue with this It’s/Its/its/it’s nonsense? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473/51 "2011-02-02T19:41:07Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Please… I have already established that correct gender neutral term for Monkey With a Gun is “It”. I disagree. You should have condensed the she/he/it gender ambiguity into s’h’it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkey-with-a-gun-needs-to-be-disarmed/569473.md?page=2)