Understanding Required - Blackened Billy

[william williams]

now is Its a plural or is It's an abreviation


bill williams

[Vic Jefferies]

it's a contraction

[Bellobazza]

It is! Whereas, its, is genetive.

[warooa]

genetive? Contractions? Ummmmmmm? (pregnant pause?)

[Neville Briggs]

Orright I fixed it.

One of Spike Milligan's little gems is a skit where acquires a copy of Webster's Dictionary
" unpurged " and is interviewed by Valentine Dyal ( wonderful comic actor ) about his new found word power.
He says that he seeks out the big words and finds the big words by measuring them with a slide rule.
Spike tells how he found the word " ovipositor" which he decides must be an Irish word , O'vipositor. And how he got kicked off the bus for not paying the fare so he shouts at the conductor " perspicacity,mate.......that fixed him "

[william williams]

what in the hell does genetive mean she ain't in the dictionary

bill w

[Neville Briggs]

In my Oxford unpurged dictionary it is " genitive " It comes from a Latin word genitivus which sort of means to play mothers and fathers.

[Neville Briggs]

Indeed Marty. And related to generator, generation, genesis, progenitor and even genius, a description I could modestly apply to myself.

[Maureen K Clifford]

and don't forget - genuflect - as is only right and proper to do to show respect to such greatness

[Bellobazza]

Thanks Neville for clearing up the confusion caused by my typo. Serves me right for playing silly bugbears.

Apostrophe:
It's a trap for the unwary...
(contraction)
case by case, its uses vary!
(genItive case)

Umm...what was the question again?

Cheers, Will.