Re: it's

Marcy Bauman (marcyb@UMD.UMICH.EDU)
Sun, 20 Oct 1996 18:33:01 -0400


On Sun, 20 Oct 1996, Carolyn Dean wrote:

> As long as I keep seeing this, and as long as it keeps bothering me, and
> even though I hate to advertise my ignorance, and even though I realize
> that I may have been 'out of the loop' way too long, I _must_ ask:
> Why do so many people on this list use it's where we were taught to use its?
>
> Is this part of pomo theory? I s this an attempt at radical de-construction?
> Is this still considered incorrect in student papers, or are you not
> marking errors on student papers these days? If you don't grade student
> papers, do you not discuss grammatical or spelling errors? If you no longer
> consider this an error, what sorts of things do you consider errors?

I think this is what I term a "thinko." I think people are quite
aware of the proper usage of its and it's; it's just that the nature of
e-mail is that you write it and send it fast. Editing isn't always a
high priority, and I think people are likely to forgive these errors
(i.e., not attribute either stupidity or carelessness to the writer).

Marcy

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Marcy Bauman
Writing Program, University of Michigan-Dearborn
4901 Evergreen Rd, Dearborn, MI 48128
fax: 313-593-5552
http://www.umd.umich.edu/~marcyb
marcyb@umich.edu
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