I still think it's clumsy and I wouldn't do it, but there's no point hanging on to some conviction about the perfection of the English language, because when would you stop the process and say *this* is the point when it was right. I usually settle for correcting things that are not presently generally accepted and also correcting for what's appropriate to a particular audience.
Catherine
Quoting Thomas Seay <entheogens at yahoo.com>:
>
> Joanna,
>
> Isn't "it's = it has" used either in the present
> perfect, ie "he's been here since 10 PM" or, if it is
> used to indicate possession, it is used with got
> "she's got nice eyes". In both cases, I should think
> that context is enough. I mean, I don't recall
> someone saying, "she's nice eyes". Can you give an
> example where the context would cause ambiguity?
>
> And, of course, there is the matter of what is
> "correct" english: the descriptive vs. prescriptive
> debate.
>
> I dont have the background to answer you definitively
> on the above, but there's probably someone here who
> is.
>
> -Thomas
> --- joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Is it really ok to use "it's" for "it has"?
> >
> > I keep seeing respectable people do it in print, in
> > the NYT, etc.
> >
> > But is it really correct? If it is, how do you
> > distinguish
> >
> > It's = it is
> >
> > from
> >
> > It's = it has
> >
> > Context won't always help you.
> >
> > Joanna
> >
> > ___________________________________
> >
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> >
>
>
>
>
>
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