usage

Its vs. It’s

by Heather on January 21, 2012

Lexical Vexations

I don’t know how I’ve missed the grandaddy of  lexical vexations for so long, so thank you, Susan, for requesting this post.

its the possessive form of the pronoun it.

it’s a contraction of the words it and is or it and has.

Words in the Wild: It’s my intention to see to it that every one of those toys ends up back in its place.

This vexation is a classic case of mistaken identity, and if you’re prone to mixing these two words up, you’re in fine company. I’d wager that everyone who’s ever written in English has made this mistake at some point, if not often.

There are 3 facts that conspire to confuse us:

  1. these words sound identical,
  2. we seldom if ever need the apostophe to tell us which meaning is intended, and
  3. current grammar rules suggest that both of these words ought to have the apostrophe.

Yes, both words cry out for an apostrophe, but only one gets to have it. English language rules say that you should add an apostrophe to make up for missing letters in a contraction. So by that logic it + is should equal it’s, right?

And the rule for creating possessives says that adding ’s to a word makes it possessive, and by that logic the object belonging to it should be it’s object, right?

But somewhere along the way it was decided that their weren’t enough apostrophes lying around for the both of them. One would have to do without. And the loser was…the possessive its. (Seems kind of odd that the possessive lost possession, doesn’t it?)

If  you’re checking your work or someone else’s, and you want to be sure you’ve got these right, try saying “it is” or “it has” every time you see either one of these words. If “it is” works, toss in that apostrophe; if it doesn’t work, leave it out.

Those of you in academia are in luck—since contractions are frowned upon in scholarly writing, you shouldn’t see any it’ses at all. Except—yes there’s always got to be an exception, right?—when you’re directly quoting someone who has written it’s.

Now that you’ve mastered these pesky words, I’m sure you want to know some more about the apostrophe’s spotted history. For an illuminating article on the apostrophe’s origins and its dubious helpfulness, head on over to Sesquiotica.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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Role vs. Roll

by Heather on October 10, 2011

Lexical Vexations

role 1. n . a part one plays in a dramatic production or in relation to other people in a real-life situation.

roll 1. v. to move around a central axis. 2. n. a small bun served at dinner. 3. n. any number of other items that have been rolled up in their preparation (a roll of parchment, a spring roll, etc.). 4. n. a sound reminiscent of one that might be made by a rolling object (a drum roll, for instance).

Words in the Wild: Mr. French was pleased that he’d found a role in the Thanksgiving pageant for every last one of his students. Aisha played a drum roll as the curtains came up, Cairo and Kenta were the bread rolls, Lily played the part of the gravy boat, Eliana and Matthias were cabbage rolls, and Spot played the lead role of the turkey. The review that came out in the student paper the following week read “I laughed, I cried, I drooled.”

This lexical vexation is for Heidi, who wants to live in a world where roles are parts and parts can roll.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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Wet vs. Whet

by Heather on June 12, 2011

Lexical Vexations

wet 1. adj. soaked with or coverd by liquid. 2. v. to cause to be soaked with or covered by liquid.

whet v. to sharpen, both literally (as in to whet a knife) and figuratively (as in to whet one’s appetite).

Words in the Wild: Nancy’s curiosity was whetted when she saw the fluffy mogwai at the pet store. And though the clerk said she shouldn’t get it wet, she couldn’t wait to take it home and give it a good bath.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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Defuse vs. Diffuse

by Heather on May 16, 2011

Lexical Vexations

defuse v. to disarm a bomb or, more metaphorically, a tense situation.

diffuse adj. spread or scattered over an area.

Words in the Wild: There wouldn’t have been a diffuse pink mist in the room if the secret agent had managed to defuse the bomb in time.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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English Down Under

by Heather on May 4, 2011

The past couple of weeks I’ve been wandering around in Sydney, Australia, so it seems fitting to make today’s post a roundup of fun and informative links about the ways that English happens down here.

And now I’m off to the beach…but purely on a language fact-finding mission, I assure you.

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Allude vs. Elude

by Heather on March 29, 2011

Lexical Vexations

allude v. to reference indirectly.

elude v. to escape or evade.

Words in the Wild: Whatever Prof. Dobson was alluding to in his mention of academic misconduct seemed to elude Sarah’s notice altogether—she continued to copy the contents of her arm onto her test paper, unabashed and unabated.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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Systematic vs. Systemic

by Heather on February 23, 2011

Lexical Vexations

systematic adj. following a devised plan in a methodological way.

systemic adj. relating to a complex but cohesive system. This was originally a term specific to the body (ex. systemic infection) but is now used to describe other complex systems as well (ex. systemic racism in governments).

Word in the Wild: The only way your company can address this systemic breakdown in communication between departments is by following my innovative and systematic approach to employee seating arrangements.

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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The Dead Hand (of Something or Other)

by Heather on February 13, 2011

Twists & Turns of Phrase

When something is held by the dead hand of something else, it is being prevented from attaining its goals. For instance, social progress might be held back by the dead hand of the status quo.

By extension we also get the adjective dead-handed, which means oppressive and out-dated. For example, a teenager might rail against his parents’ dead-handed authority.

The phrase dead hand, which inevitably puts me in mind of zombies and rigor mortis, actually has medieval origins in French property law. Although church leaders were the ones in practical possession of lands and monies, they didn’t want this wealth reverting automatically to the state upon their death. So instead the institution of the church was defined as an individual under the law. Since it could never die, nothing need be forfeited to the state. Thus such property was said to be in the dead hand (or mortmain) of the church.

The concept of mortmain was taken up in medieval England and was used there in the same way. Since then, the dead hand has also applied to the holdings of charities and other corporations.

From this legal meaning, the phrase dead hand slowly came to mean anything that is an “oppressive or retarding influence.” (OED)

Bonus meaning!

Someone who is an expert at something can also be described as a dead hand: She was a dead hand at throwing darts.

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Than vs. Then

by Heather on November 1, 2010

Lexical Vexations

Today’s post was requested by reader Elaine, who writes, “Please add ‘Then vs Than.’ Then refers to a time element; than is used in a comparative sense.”

As you can see Elaine has a lockdown on this tricky pair, but she’s picked a perfect lexical vexation. These words refer to pretty abstract ideas and are easily confused even by seasoned writers, especially when they’re pressed for time.

than conj. or prep. in comparison with.

then adv. at that time.

Word in the Wild: “I’ll show them,” Jamie said. “After I graduate from spelling-bee boot camp, I’ll be able to spell every word in the dictionary backwards and forwards. Then I’ll win the citywide spelling trophy and show that know-it-all Kerry I’m better than him.

Taming this tricky pair: With practice you can train your brain to send up a red flag whenever you see the word than or then in a document you’re editing. Whenever you spot one, ask yourself whether the phrase in question is really about time or if it’s a comparison.

Most people don’t have too much trouble remembering that the word then refers to time; once you’ve done that, you can deduce that than must be for comparisons. I’ve been trying to think of an easy mnemonic for this lexical vexation for a long time, but haven’t come up with anything yet. If you know of a trick for keeping these two words straight, I hope you’ll let us know about it in the comments!

Still vexed? You can find a complete list of the Word Blog’s lexical vexations here.

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