Originally Posted by Mister Bent (Post 295210)

Originally Posted by Nat (Post 295415)

I wish English would adopt the Spanish upside-down "?" and "!" to put at the beginning of questions and exclamations. Not only does it look cool, but you actually get a heads-up about the tone of the sentence at the beginning where it makes sense.

I used to think I knew the rules of punctuation, but my brain has gone out to pasture. Texting for 7 years and internetting for 15, and it really feels like there are no real rules at all anymore. Plus I read this book called "Eats Shoots and Leaves" which was a hilarious book on punctuation written by a British woman. British punctuation is different from American. Even though she explained the differences as she went along, I've never been right in the head again. That book is laugh-out-loud funny to me. I never thought I'd read a book on punctuation ever in my life, but it had me in fits.

How would you punctuate the following sentences?

I really love the word azure because its really pleasurable to say

if you know your abcs wont you come and sing with me

apostrophes can indicate possession a contraction or in some cases can be used before an s to pluralize an initialism and thats it

Where do you put the period in the following sentences?

She wished she could stop time (she always harbored secret yearnings for certain superpowers)

The word you are thinking of is "idiosyncratic"

And, how do you address letters these days?

I was taught:

"Dear So-and-so,"

but my partner's technical writing textbook says it should always be:

"Dear So-and-so:"

When did we switch to colons for addressing letters????

I just don't know anymore about any of it. It seems all loosey goosey. I think anarchy has triumphed in the world of English punctuation. It's kinda nice.

At work the other day, I got an email.

"I don't handle this type of request..."

and I really felt like the ... was short for "you _____"

I try to avoid this sort of use of ellipses because they make me paranoid when they are thrown my way.

I guess it's not just loosey goosey these days - I think punctuation's getting in a lot more with expressing emotion and personality and tone. Writing has never had to pull so much of the weight of social behavior before (as far as I know). <--I think think that's where the Brits put the period, but I'm not sure where American English puts it.

and here's a question:

Are emoticons a kind of punctuation?

oh - and about spaces:

Do you put one space or two between the end of one sentence and the beginning of another?

I was taught to put two, but the young ones have informed me that the rule is now one space and that the two-space rule was more tied to typewriters than computers. What say ye?

Originally Posted by Diva (Post 295303)

Originally Posted by Mister Bent (Post 295210)

Originally Posted by dixielady (Post 295470)

Originally Posted by Mister Bent (Post 295308)

Originally Posted by Medusa (Post 296845)

This?

Today I went to the market and bought apples, pears, and bananas.

Or This?

Today I went to the market and bought apples, pears and bananas.

Originally Posted by Medusa (Post 296845)

This?

Today I went to the market and bought apples, pears, and bananas.

Or This?

Today I went to the market and bought apples, pears and bananas.

Originally Posted by June (Post 294983)

Hi, my name is June and I am apostrophe challenged.

Originally Posted by The_Lady_Snow (Post 294985)

I thought maybe it was a pretend cussing thread.

%#*%£!

I'm terrible with punctuation I'm sorry:(

Originally Posted by Medusa (Post 296845)

This?

Today I went to the market and bought apples, pears, and bananas.

Or This?

Today I went to the market and bought apples, pears and bananas.

Originally Posted by Medusa (Post 296873)

Yeah, I learned in elem school that the comma had to be there or the last two things would be grouped together like "macaroni and cheese" versus just macaroni and just cheese.

I did, however, get a HUGE inappropriate giggle out of the idea of eating Grandma :)

Originally Posted by Nat (Post 296989)

I remember a teacher telling the class that the rule changed from the first to the second. I also remember a teacher bitterly complaining about how this rule change affected the meaning and rhythm of poetry included in our textbooks.

<snip>

Originally Posted by Chancie (Post 297014)

The comma before the 'and' is called the Harvard comma, and

I tend to think of it as the rule we follow when we want to be extra correct.

I went to an old fashioned high school.



And a generation later . . .