Quote of the Week

I know this book's been out a few years and many of you have read it, but I just love this line (and most others) from this book:

"To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as 'Thank God its Friday' (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of violence. The confusion of the possessive 'its' (no apostrophe) with the contractive 'it's' (with apostrophe) is an unequivocal signal of illiteracy and sets off a simple Pavlovian 'kill' response in the average stickler. The rule is: the word 'it's' (with apostrophe) stands for 'it is' or 'it has'. If the word does not stand for 'it is' or 'it has' then what you require is 'its'. This is extremely easy to grasp."
- Lynne Truss from Eats, Shoots & Leaves (p. 43)

I still remember this rule from Mrs. Frazier's grammar class in 7th grade. No science, no major logic, just "does it sound right?" If you reason it out (see above) you're probably right. Thanks, Mrs. Frazier. Get this book if you haven't already.