Seabrooke writes:
I came down with a cold this week, and in doing some research on just what the rate of sinus mucus production really is (’cause it seems to my poor nose like a quart a day), I stumbled across this seasonally-appropriate cartoon. Unless “Nose-Is-Running” is a new Native American-style name for the latest flu virus (probably the one I’ve caught!)…
#1 by Rebekah on December 30, 2007 - 6:26 pm
and what’s with the ‘flu?
#2 by caphector on January 1, 2008 - 5:05 am
I’d swear this one is correct…”‘Flu” is short for “Influenza” and is common usage. “It’s” in this case is a pronoun referring back to “‘Flu”. If you substitute the referent for the pronoun, you get “[The 'flu]‘s nose is running”, which AFAIK is correct.
Of course, that’s just a complex way of explaining the its/it’s debate.
#3 by hannah on January 1, 2008 - 11:24 pm
dear caphector,
in case no one ever taught you, you only put an apostrophe in “it’s” when you are combining “it” and “is”. you leave out the apostrophe when refering to something belonging to it.
congratulations on passing English grammar
#4 by Blue on January 2, 2008 - 6:20 pm
Go Hannah!! LOL
#5 by caphector on January 7, 2008 - 6:07 am
Thanks, I mis-read the strip. Embarrassed now…