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Referring to (say) some computer code, a table, or whatever:

"It sits there and does it on its ownsome."

Should be its or it's ?

(Unrelated aside on spelling of ownsome. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ownsome I'd say ownsum is also a popular spelling, perhaps emphasizing the slang aspect.)

Fattie
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    Using it's when its (the possessive) is required is a very annoying error, which does a very great deal to make a person seem illiterate. – Michael Harvey Oct 21 '23 at 15:03
  • There was a famous Life in Hell strip about just that, and I've often reference it on here. Sadly the comic it no longer seems to be online. – Fattie Oct 21 '23 at 15:10
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    Why would you even ask this? I don't get it. – Lambie Oct 21 '23 at 16:18
  • There's something a bit "oxymoronic" about this question, since *ownsome* is sufficiently colloquial / dialectal that most people who use it in most contexts wouldn't know and/or care about "correct orthography". – FumbleFingers Oct 21 '23 at 18:11
  • Perhaps 'ownsome' is some kind of hash-up of 'lonesome'. But a table does it on its ownsome? – Weather Vane Oct 21 '23 at 18:45
  • "Its" and "it's" - how to remember? and lots of duplicates. – None Oct 21 '23 at 18:53
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    Asked by someone who has 11k rep on ELU I don't think this question was posted in good faith. – Weather Vane Oct 21 '23 at 19:02
  • @FumbleFingers - that makes no sense – Fattie Oct 21 '23 at 23:00
  • @WeatherVane - amazing you don't know the famous Churchill anecdote – Fattie Oct 21 '23 at 23:01
  • @WeatherVane what the hell are you talking about? I'm poor at grammar and I don't know what sort of word "ownsome" is. Is it a verb? An adjective? I have no idea about the apostrophe rule in such an unusual case. – Fattie Oct 21 '23 at 23:03
  • @Fattie: Just considering the relatively low number of native Anglohones who would ever say It does it on its ownsome non-facetiously, I'm quite sure the proportion of those speaker who have obviously limited writing / spelling skills would be far higher than the percentage of "illiterates" in the native Anglophone population as a whole. That's to say, those people aren't likely to know or care whether that apostrophe should be present or not. To most of them, it'll probably be on a par with the "Greengrocer's Apostrophe". – FumbleFingers Oct 22 '23 at 14:41
  • (3) I happened to just then use the phrase (in writing, obviously, this is about the written word) and it's why I asked. As I mention I have no idea what sort of word "ownsome" is. (4) Regarding the regionality, I wonder if it's "Southern"; lonesome, ownsome. I can't imagine it being used facetiously; it's used in a kind of humorous, throwback, deliberately-twangy way, I think. My folks are from Scotland so maybe it's a "northern" thing IDK, but that doesn't sound right. As I mention below if you just google, say, https://www.google.com/search?q=all+on+her+ownsome any# of songs, books etc. – Fattie Oct 22 '23 at 14:52

1 Answers1

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The spelling "it's" is reserved for the contraction of "it is". The possessive of "it" is always spelled "its", without an apostrophe.

Jack O'Flaherty
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  • Don't get me started on who's where whose is required. – Michael Harvey Oct 21 '23 at 15:04
  • Awesome answer Jack. It's all on its ownsum for now. – Fattie Oct 21 '23 at 15:06
  • @Fattie BTW, thanks for "ownsome", which I hadn't seen before. It's in Wiktionary and Collins, at onelook.com. – Jack O'Flaherty Oct 21 '23 at 15:08
  • Intriguing; as a first-timer hearer it makes perfect sense right? Perhaps it's a regional thing; or maybe you have to be older. IDK. Now I want to know the regionality or era ... – Fattie Oct 21 '23 at 15:11
  • @Fattie Online Etymology has no results for 'ownsome'. – Weather Vane Oct 21 '23 at 18:49
  • @WeatherVane I'd suggest not using comic online "references". It's a totally commonplace term. Simply google, say, https://www.google.com/search?q=all+on+her+ownsome for numerous books, songs, etc. As mentioned (and, obviously) it must be regional and/or more common in certain decades. – Fattie Oct 21 '23 at 23:06