"Milk It for All It's Worth" or "Milk It for All Its Worth"?

You know, I've always thought of this phrase in my head as "it's." Not consciously, but still, it was there. Now that you bring it up, though, I really like the "its" construction. Both ways are right. I don't think there's much of a way to debate that. And essentially they mean the same thing, but there is a very subtle difference. I see "Milk it for all its worth" as acknowledging that whatever it is, it owns worth, and you're milking it for the worth it possesses. "Milk it for all it is worth" implies the same thing, only it approaches it from a different angle. And an apostrophe makes all the difference. Who says grammar isn't cool?

This is giving me a headache...

I suggest it's, the contraction of it is. Its would be the possessive form. The rule I use is when it is works use it's.

It seems to me that the phrasiologically implicit connotation is the same for both versions - value. It is not a case of intrinsic or extrinsic value but an attribute. To me, there ain't a dimes worth of difference between them.

I say that the phrase is "it's worth." A logical example is changing the sentence from the implied cow and milk to a person: Take her for all she's worth.

However, I think both could pass as grammatically correct depending on the speaker's meaning; IMHO, the common phrase is supposed to be "it's worth." :)

Either one is correct, depending on which meaning you are going for.

iTHiNK THAT iT SHOUlD BE "its" BECAUSE "it's" SHOWS POSSESSiON OF WORTH.

'Milk it for all it's worth,' but why on earth are you using initial caps in the title to the article? Just because it's the heading of the article, doesn't mean that the 'it,' 'all,' 'its' and 'worth' attract capital letters. You need to be consistent throughout, not just pick and choose!

'Milk it for all its worth,' but why on earth are you using initial caps in the title to the article? Just because it's the heading of the article, doesn't mean that the 'it,' 'all,' 'its' and 'worth' attract capital letters. You need to be consistent throughout, not just pick and choose!

Grammatically, I can see how both versions are correct. However, since I would be more likely to say, "He/she/they milked me for all I'm worth" as opposed to, "He/she/they milked me for all my worth," I'm inclined to say that the phrase uses the contraction, "it's".

On that note, is there anyone out there who WOULD say, "He/she/they milked me for all my worth"?

i would use it's worth, but if i were talking about its worth, i would say all of its worth.

I vote for "its" (possessive).

I believe the answer lies in the metaphorical use of "milk", i.e. as a verb meaning to extract milk from a cow. The expression would therefore mean "milk it (extract value from it) for all (of) its worth (until all of its value has been extracted).

Grammatically, they would both be correct. "Milk it for all it's worth" is the same as "Milk it for all it is worth." That makes sense. "Milk it for all its worth" uses its in the possessive form possessing the worth. Both are correct.

'Milk it'... is not referring to the white liquid Milk, it is being used as a verb ie 'Use it.'..
Often the phrase can be used to an 'it' that has no inherent 'worth' as in for example when a person has a nasty looking bruise and is getting a lot of caring attention from, say, her boyfriend and she decides to 'Milk it ' ie use the fact that she has a bruise.'.for all it's worth' - the worth being that it is generating attention..the bruise itself had no 'worth' so it cannot possibly be 'its worth'. Obviously doctors will disagree!
My view would be that the apostrophe is correctly placed in it's ..for all it is worth

"My sister just asked me whether the phrase is 'milk it for all it's worth' or 'milk it for all its worth."
Whether the phrase is what? Correct? Everyone seems to be taking it that way. Infallible grammar is nice, but it doesn't seem to guarantee comprehension.

Both constructions are, of course, grammatically correct. They don't have different meanings either. Both are interchangeable with "milk it for all the worth it possesses." They are two similar but *different* constructions.

STOP!

Just because they are similar does not mean one is right and one is wrong. We all have learned many examples of similar-sounding constructions in which one is correct and the other is a malapropism, but it's hardly fair to extrapolate this to every phrase in the English language.

"For what it's worth" is a bad comparison, as are "for what I/he/she/you/they is/are worth."
"For all its worth" is a shortening of "for all of its worth" (it's used in the same way as "for all of its peoples"... "The United States embraces healthcare for all of its peoples"). Obviously, "for what of its worth" is a phrase that doesn't exist. Consequently, neither does "for what its worth."

Now that that's settled, let's move on to the real question, which has eluded some commenters.
"Which is the expression that you hear in colloquial English? Which is the form that everyone knows?" The answer to that question is the former--the one your sister originally typed into MS Word. "Milk it for all it's worth." Programs are only as smart as their programmers, I suppose.

In my experience, "its" is rarely used. Even when "its" is proper, more popular constructions will replace it. One instance that springs to mind is "the crux of it;" "its crux" means the same thing, but it lacks the familiarity of the former and (perhaps purely because of this) sounds ungainly or obsolete.

I remember reading an article you wrote about a commonly held grammatical misconception--"never end a sentence with a preposition," or something like that. You refuted it, but acutely suggested not to defy it on any important document due to the prevalence of the notion. I'm going to propose the same thing in this case. Your sister probably doesn't want people heckling her with insignificant grammatical points, especially not on grounds like the all-too-common "it sounds wrong to me."

For what it's worth (no pun intended), according to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, A. Huxley (in Let. 15 Nov. [1969] 631) wrote, "My feeling about the story is that you have got hold of something big, but have not yet milked it for all it is worth." As the first documentation of the saying, it seems it was originally meant to be taken in the former manner, and the inclusion of the apostrophe would be correct. (See definition 10 of verb "milk.")

Funny, I had never even considered the second meaning, but can now totally see that as plausible. However, I've also often heard this phrase used in relation to a person: "Milk him for all he's worth." It may be that it is not entirely grammatically correct, but I have never heard anyone say, "Milk him for all his worth." I'd disagree with Word on this one.

After reading all the above I am coming to a view that both versions have the same ultimate meaning: i.e., a thing's "worth" is "what it (the thing) is worth."

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The problem here is the question, "Which is correct?"

What do you mean by "correct?" Both are grammatically correct but have different meanings; which you use depends on what you mean. Grammar is descriptive not prescriptive. Write/say what you mean.

If you are thinking of correctness as being true to its first use, who knows? Does it matter? It does matter if the meaning changes incomprehensibly as when people mistakenly say, say, "Tow the line."

You mean like "Milk it for all OF its worth?" No way is that right.

Oh, beyond a doubt: it is/it's. Funny, most of the time people want to add apostrophes that don't belong.

If English did not have contractions, this problem would not exist, as the phrase would always have been 'for all it is worth'.

Would not it?

Definitely, 'Milk it for all it's worth'. (i.e., It's as in 'it is').

I have also always thought of it as milk it for all it is worth, so I would go with the contraction. Also quick online search shows Washington Post used the apostrophe in their headline.

While both are technically correct, each usage represents a different linguistic context. Using its connotes the milk possesses worth. Using it's connotes the end result of the milk's supposed value.

Interesting! I would have always used the apostrophe until now. Both are correct, and just show slightly different nuances. I kind of like the apostrophe-free version, indicating possession now.

@Viktor: Next time I, too, will use my browser's search function :-)

A quick scan of the OED doesn't show any references.

Interestingly, this page is now on Google's front page when searching for this phrase.

Well, I have no idea -- neither feels wrong. But, the Oxford English Dictionary lists two quotations which both use was/is, perhaps that is worth something:
1950 A. HUXLEY Let. 15 Nov. (1969) 631 My feeling about the story is that you have got hold of something big, but have not yet milked it
for all it is worth.

1971 M. BABSON Cover-up Story ix. 107 They milked the applause for all it was worth, then Bart held up his hand again.

The first assumes that the purpose of "milking" is to obtain matters of worth and that effort should be made to secure it in its entirety. The second allows that "milking" may produce a less desirable output and one should take care to "milk" for its worth instead of one of the other possibilities.

It's a very fine distinction and possibly not one worth making. Conventionally I'd go with the contracted "it is" over the possessive as the proper choice.

While my initial inclination was to pick one over the other, I believe I'll have to side with those saying both can be correct but with slightly different nuances. It's interesting to note that their differences (and also what makes them both valid) are most easily noticed by including understood words.

"Milk it for all (that) it's worth."

"Milk it for all (of) its worth."

In my reading of those two sentences, there is more emphasis on the totality of the "milking" in the first sentence. In contrast, second sentence stresses worth as the desired subject of the "milking."

Terry - I think you're agreeing with me, I was using "Take him for all his worth" as an example of incorrect usage.

My guess is that they saying in its original construction was without the apostrophe. As it became part of common parlance, the form that includes an apostrophe became the customary usage.

I have to agree with the majority that "it's" is the best choice, though I can see the argument for both phrases. (B.A. English - Amherst College)

Great question, especially in that it's probably not answerable. Google gives the apostrophe version a 3-1 edge. I don't know that it's correct to make the argument based on "for what it's worth" or any of the other supposed parallels. It seems to me the possessive version is more likely the original, but maybe I'm just being contrary.

I disagree with Jeremy. He compares this construct to "Take him for all his worth". The corollary would be "Take him for all he is worth" ie. "Take it for all it is worth"

I agree with Jeremy's post above. The corollary is "Take him for all he's worth," or if, say, Kirk is yelling at Scotty, "Push her for all she's got!" So the answer would be "it's."

I used to know the answer to this, GG, but it is now lost in memory, a victim of years of imbibing the milk of amnesia.

Aren't they the same? Isn't, "The worth it has," the same as, "The worth of it?"

A nickel is worth five cents.

A nickel's worth is five cents.

Think about this way - you'd say "Take him for all he's worth," never "Take him for all his worth." So, "Milk it for all it's worth" would be the parallel construction.

I would use "it's." If you are going to milk something for "its worth," its entire worth is implied. Unless you specify "half its worth" or "some of its worth," simply saying "its worth" means its total value. Because the expression contains the word "all," this would make "its" redundant.

I agree with Matt and Justin, that the apostrophe version is correct. Matt is right on with his example. The popular use of the phrase is to illustrate that we are getting everything that is possible out of a given situation. Ie: a cow and her milk.

As Justin said, both are grammatically correct. And although the meaning is subltly different, the base intention is the same.

In a grander contextual sense, we have some parallels:
They took us for all we're worth.
They took me for all I'm worth.
Take him for he's worth.
Take her for all she's worth.
Not "our worth," "my worth," "his worth," or "her worth."

So from those uses, I'd say it's "it's" ("it is").
I think I'm more likely to use "For what it's worth," anyway, which more clearly has to be "it is".

"Milk it for all it is/was" and " 's" are the way it's found in print. And the parallel construction, "for all they can" would seem to give the notional edge to the apostrophe.

I agree. I've always understood this expression as using "it's" but I can also see the other way.

Though I'm not an English major (Journalism, actually), I'd say that the correct form is with 'it's' in most cases. It makes sense when you read it as 'Milk it for all it is worth'.

But, as Justin stated, both are probably grammatically correct.

I always heard the phrase as, "Milk it for all that it's worth" when I was younger. Since you can leave the "that" out, I would say the the form with apostrophe is more likely to be the original.

Also to go back to the root of the phrase, to milk a cow for all its worth sounds strange.

You're milking whatever it is for its worth like you're milking a cow for its milk. No apostrophe.

I agree with the parallel to "for what it's worth". I've always thought of the phrase as "milk it for all it is worth".

I would vote for "It's."

I also favor the apostrophe variety. To me, "worth" refers to the cow's worth, not the milk's worth.

In other words, you are milking the cow for all the milk the cow is worth, thereby getting the most value out of the cow.

To the extent that "for what it's worth" can be used as a guide, I would suppose that the apostrophe variety is more correct. Grammatically, of course, they are both proper. It's an interesting subtle shading of meaning.