All editors should know better

That's it. I'm done. I can't take seeing the word it's used improperly one more time. I understand the source of the confusion, I really do, but it's not that hard to remember that it's is a contraction of it is, never a possessive, as in its main attributes are...

English is evolving, you say... that's true. And I'm okay with certain stylistic changes. For instance, while it's technically incorrect to say, I'm good instead of I'm well, there's actually a clever difference in semantics at work and I'm okay to let that "mistake" stand and allow English to evolve (specifically: well is an adverb qualifiying the verb to be, which modifies a state of being, whereas good is an adjective qualifying the object I, which modifies the person as a static object at a singular moment in time).

However, some mistakes are not a matter of style—they are simply wrong and will always be wrong. I don't care if all 300 million Americans use it's instead of its, using it's as a possessive is still wrong and always will be.

But I didn't start this blog to castigate the common user, for they simply follow the examples they see the most frequently. Thus, I started this blog to list offenders who should know better, and that means editors. Any kind of published work in print or on the web, especially when well-paid editors are involved, is fair game. Personal blogs are mostly immune, unless they are very popular. If you see your web site on the hit list, the finger of blame is on you alone.

There's only one way to get your listing off The It's Hit List—leave us a comment saying the error has been corrected and promise you'll never make the mistake again. Note that this will only grant you immununity of past offenses, not current ones. The hit list readers never sleep.