--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To those who care about punctuation, a…" description: "\"To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as \"Thank God its Friday\" (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of viol..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/732/lynne-truss-4153_average_to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-se_662395.jpg" --- # To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as… ![“To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as "Thank God its Friday" (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of violence. The confusion of the possessive "its" (no apostrophe) with the contractive "it's" (with apostrophe) is an unequivocal signal of illiteracy…” quote by Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/732/lynne-truss-4153_average_to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-se_662395.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/732/lynne-truss-4153_average_to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-se_662395.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/732/lynne-truss-4153_average_to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-se_662395.jpg) > “To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as "Thank God its Friday" (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of violence. The confusion of the possessive "its" (no apostrophe) with the contractive "it's" (with apostrophe) is an unequivocal signal of illiteracy and sets off a Pavlovian "kill" response in the average stickler.” [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Incorrect punctuation signals ignorance and can provoke strong negative reactions. **In simple terms:** Misusing "its" vs "it's" shows poor literacy. Key Takeaway Pay attention to punctuation. Themes language punctuation literacy communication Mood informative concerned Type educational observational When to use this quote - writing - editing - teaching - public speaking Key Concepts grammar social perception cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - Why does punctuation matter socially? - How can we teach proper usage effectively? A Different Perspective May overstate emotional impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Friday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friday/) [Illiteracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illiteracy/) [Signals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/signals/) [Thank God Its Friday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thank-god-its-friday/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Late Friday morning I was driving toward Boulder. I was seated in "Doctor Lovebeads Cosmic Wonderbus and Mobile Mercantile." That entire phrase was painted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-reilly/late-friday-morning-i-was-driving-toward-boulder-i-was-seated-in/) [Gary Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-reilly/) > [Thank god its Friday. What a week its been...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-what-a-week-its-been/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank God its Friday & its time for the weekend. Take out my windows phone & post a status for my friends, cuz I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-its-time-for-the-weekend-take-out-my-windows/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank you lord for letting me be here and for letting me make it this far...oh and thank god its friday!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-you-lord-for-letting-me-be-here-and-for-letting-me-make-it-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank God its Friday, I'm fresh off the highway. Im 2 minutes out, Im bout to pull in the drive way!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-i-m-fresh-off-the-highway-im-2-minutes-out-im/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never get any sleep during the week thank god its friday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-get-any-sleep-during-the-week-thank-god-its-friday/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank god its Friday, bout to go get shit popping!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-bout-to-go-get-shit-popping/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Three Chocolate Chip Cookies and a batch of 'Drama' cooking in the oven. Only on Fridays, thank God its Friday!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/three-chocolate-chip-cookies-and-a-batch-of-drama-cooking-in-the-oven/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank god its friday hopefully I can get into something good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-hopefully-i-can-get-into-something-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank god its friday tommorow; so freakin' happy it is nearly the weekend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-tommorow-so-freakin-happy-it-is-nearly-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank god its friday! You have a weekend to recharge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-you-have-a-weekend-to-recharge/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thank God its friday because its time all bitches get cocked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tokelo-d-putsoane/thank-god-its-friday-because-its-time-all-bitches-get-cocked/) Tokelo D Putsoane > [Thank God Its Friday! Because I get Layed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-because-i-get-layed/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is Monday that makes you feel Thank god its Friday. So every day has its importance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/srinivasa-reddy/it-is-monday-that-makes-you-feel-thank-god-its-friday-so-every-day/) Srinivasa Reddy > [Thank god its friday, thank god for the long weekend, thank god for my BED.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/thank-god-its-friday-thank-god-for-the-long-weekend-thank-god-for-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Lynne Truss > [Punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language: they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/punctuation-marks-are-the-traffic-signals-of-language-they-tell-us-to/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [Evidently an A level in English is a sacred trust, like something out of "The Lord of the Rings". You must go forth with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/evidently-an-a-level-in-english-is-a-sacred-trust-like-something-out/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [Texting is a supremely secretive medium of communication - it's like passing a note - and this means we should be very careful what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/texting-is-a-supremely-secretive-medium-of-communication-it-s-like/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“Part of one's despair, of course, is that the world cares nothing for the little shocks endured by the sensitive stickler. While we look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/part-of-one-s-despair-of-course-is-that-the-world-cares-nothing-for/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [For any true stickler, you see, the sight of the plural word “Book’s” with an apostrophe in it will trigger a ghastly private emotional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/for-any-true-stickler-you-see-the-sight-of-the-plural-word-book-s/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [Brackets come in various shapes, types and names: 1 round brackets (which we call brackets, and the Americans call parentheses) 2 square brackets \[which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/brackets-come-in-various-shapes-types-and-names-1-round-brackets/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [Texting is a fundamentally sneaky form of communication, which we should despise, but it is such a boon we don't care. We are all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/texting-is-a-fundamentally-sneaky-form-of-communication-which-we/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [My favorite thing in the world is a quiz show, 'University Challenge,' so you can see what kind of sad person I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/my-favorite-thing-in-the-world-is-a-quiz-show-university-challenge-so/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“nothing is straightforward in the world of literary taste.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/nothing-is-straightforward-in-the-world-of-literary-taste/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [Punctuation is a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/punctuation-is-a-courtesy-designed-to-help-readers-to-understand-a/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“one might dare to say that while the full stop is the lumpen male of the punctuation world (do one job at a time;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/one-might-dare-to-say-that-while-the-full-stop-is-the-lumpen-male-of/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [The main advantage of working at home is that you get to find out what cats really do all day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/the-main-advantage-of-working-at-home-is-that-you-get-to-find-out/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“I think about death sometimes. Analytically, of course.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/i-think-about-death-sometimes-analytically-of-course/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“For the first time since she met him, she asked herself whether mr Dodgson was really the sunny personality she had at first imagined.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/for-the-first-time-since-she-met-him-she-asked-herself-whether-mr/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) > [“All the important roles shortly boiled down to one: remember your with other people; show some consideration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/all-the-important-roles-shortly-boiled-down-to-one-remember-your-with/) [Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) [Explore all 115 Lynne Truss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/) ## More Average quotes > [I genuinely did not expect more than half our nation to choose to walk away from our long-term allies into the arms of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-reade/i-genuinely-did-not-expect-more-than-half-our-nation-to-choose-to/) Brian Reade > [There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-martinez/there-were-times-last-year-when-people-looked-at-the-scoreboard-and/) Buck Martinez > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. Heritage Foundation political scientist Robert Rector has worked up figures showing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/in-comparative-terms-there-s-no-poverty-in-america-by-a-long-shot/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The average well-being of our societies is not dependent any longer on national income and economic growth. ... But the differences between us and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-g-wilkinson/the-average-well-being-of-our-societies-is-not-dependent-any-longer/) [Richard G. Wilkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-g-wilkinson/) > [I really focus more to hit for average, just try to put the ball in play as much as I can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-soto/i-really-focus-more-to-hit-for-average-just-try-to-put-the-ball-in/) [Juan Soto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-soto/) > [You give me enough shots, I'll average 20. You give me a particular system where I stick close to the basket, I'll average 10 rebounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-bosh/you-give-me-enough-shots-i-ll-average-20-you-give-me-a-particular/) [Chris Bosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-bosh/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [The average American expends more time becoming informed about choosing a car than choosing a candidate. But, then, the consequences of the former choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-will/the-average-american-expends-more-time-becoming-informed-about/) [George Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-will/) > [My phone rings, they call me up and say, 'Chael, your testosterone level is too high.' I say, 'Well, how high was it?' They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chael-sonnen/my-phone-rings-they-call-me-up-and-say-chael-your-testosterone-level/) [Chael Sonnen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chael-sonnen/) > [In one century, we've added 28 years to our average life span - a change so rapid that our brains couldn't possibly have evolved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/in-one-century-we-ve-added-28-years-to-our-average-life-span-a-change/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [So-called Western Civilization, as practised in half of Europe, some of Asia and a few parts of North America, is better than anything else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/so-called-western-civilization-as-practised-in-half-of-europe-some-of/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [I feel like what motivates me is what would motivate the regular average person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rico-nasty/i-feel-like-what-motivates-me-is-what-would-motivate-the-regular/) [Rico Nasty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rico-nasty/) > [We're trying to do something so that when the average person uses Pinterest, it has to make the service better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-silbermann/we-re-trying-to-do-something-so-that-when-the-average-person-uses/) [Ben Silbermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-silbermann/) > [The extraordinary woman depends on the ordinary woman. It is only when we know what were the conditions of the average woman's life -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-extraordinary-woman-depends-on-the-ordinary-woman-it-is-only-when/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) Browse all 2,816 Average quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as \"Thank God its Friday\" (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of despair but of violence. The confusion of the possessive \"its\" (no apostrophe) with the contractive \"it's\" (with apostrophe) is an unequivocal signal of illiteracy and sets off a Pavlovian \"kill\" response in the average stickler.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lynne Truss" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-sentence-such-as-thank-god-its/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Average" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-sentence-such-as-thank-god-its/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/732/lynne-truss-4153_average_to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-se_662395.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/732/lynne-truss-4153_average_to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-se_662395.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/732/lynne-truss-4153_average_to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-se_662395.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as \"Thank God its Friday\" (without the apostrophe)…” — Lynne Truss", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Lynne Truss", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-truss/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To those who care about punctuation,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-sentence-such-as-thank-god-its/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-truss/to-those-who-care-about-punctuation-a-sentence-such-as-thank-god-its/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```