When it's its
Sir: A question for Mr Keith Waterhouse CA message from the AAAA's president', 16 April), esteemed president of the Asso- ciation for the Annihilation of the Aberrant Apostrophe: Are you quite sure that Ten- nyson wrote, 'Their's not to reason why'? In Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, the apostro- phe is deleted, like any expletive.
As for its/it's, I should hate to see the dis- tinction obliterated, as they mean two entirely different things.
Some years ago I was teaching a course in journalism at Yale. To my surprise, many of my students seemed to be oblivious to the rudiments of grammar. Its/it's was a particular sore spot. My husband, Bob Treuhaft, who as a lawyer is doomed to read the fine print in any document, sug- gested the following mnemonic device:
When is it its?
When it's not it is.
When is it it's?
When it is it is.
Jessica Milford
6411 Regent Street, Oakland, California, USA
Previous page
