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By JAMES J. KILPATRICK
Universal Press
What is the most frequently misspelled word in English? Angela Williams, director of the Writing Center at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., has nominated a word that has only three letters. I second the nomination.
The word is “its,” or in the alternative, “it’s.”
Why can’t people get this straight? Such a little word! “It’s,” with the apostrophe “s,” has only one meaning: It is. IT’S a contraction: IT’S time to feed to dog. IT’S not nice to burp at dinner. ,
By contrast, “its,” without the apostrophe, - indicates possession: Every dog has ITS day, the car lay on ITS side, the Republican Party has ITS eye on the Senate.
Nothing could be simpler, yet confusion reigns at levels high and low. I was reading the Constitution the other day, and this was not just any old reprinting of the Constitution. This was the official Bicentennial Edition, published by the Government Printing Office as a House document in 1987.
And what should my unbelieving eyes behold? Right there toward the end of Article I was this provision: “No State shall...lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing IT’S inspection laws.” IT’S? Aaargh!
Think of it! Turn pale! Fumble for words! Send the children to their rooms! The same incredible spelling also appears in The Constitution of the United States of America, revised and annotated, published by
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