false_vacuum comments on Other people's procedural knowledge gaps - Less Wrong

7 Post author: NancyLebovitz 08 February 2011 10:18PM

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Comment author: false_vacuum 09 February 2011 11:05:07AM *  1 point [-]

Just to be clear, are you saying you now have less respect for me, categorically, than for people who use it's incorrectly? That would be most unfortunate; I certainly hope I am misunderstanding somehow. I do not believe, incidentally, that I was expressing contempt for anyone; I apologise for my incomprehension, but it is genuine.

And as I mentioned above, its belongs to the same family as the other pronominal adjectives her, my, our, ... None of them have apostrophes (and one besides its has an s).

ETA: And whose. That's another one people seem to get wrong a lot.

Comment author: wedrifid 09 February 2011 11:38:50AM 1 point [-]

Just to be clear, are you saying you now have less respect for me, categorically, than for people who use it's incorrectly?

I categorically have quite a lot of respect for those whose English grammar ability breaks down at the weakest point in the grammar. That I punctuate correctly while they do not is an indication not that they have learned poorly but instead that I have more completely immersed myself into the peculiarities of the syntax.

I loved the cartoon link on apostrophes that one of the cousin comments provided!

Comment author: false_vacuum 09 February 2011 12:48:47PM 0 points [-]

I categorically have quite a lot of respect for those whose English grammar ability breaks down at the weakest point in the grammar.

That interpretation would probably never have occurred to me. You must be using 'respect' to mean something like 'tolerance'. If so, I will try to tolerate your tolerance.