Serious Issue ....... that MUST be Addressed !!!!!

by Simon 42 Replies latest forum announcements

• 

  Simon

  This is such an important issue, more and more people are succumbing to what must be some viral outbreak wreaking havoc in the world.

  I'm talking about unnecessary punctuation.

  It's easy to become infected. You want to write something and add some emphasis so you add an exclamation mark to make it "important!" but dang, it's not important enough is it?? It needs to be MORES IMPORTANTS!!!!! What if people don't notice it?!?!?!?!?!!

  So you add a loooooon line of them.

  Then there's the issue of ...................

  ................... continuation dots that go on forever.

  Here's the deal: three is the max for all of them. The dots even have a name, "mark of ellipses". But whether you're doing dots, exclamation marks or question marks, three is the maximum. Any more and you risk looking like an eedjit.

  If you need trouble remembering how many, just imagine you have a holy hand-grenade and remember - five is right out!

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IOMNUayJjI

  This has been a public service announcement.

  Tune in next week for " no space in-between quotes and punctuation " . <-- here be evil
• 

  truth_b_known

  I agree. However I do support the use of the Oxford comma and two spaces after the end of a sentence.
• 

  Finkelstein

  What ???????
  
• 

  the girl next door

  This is interesting:

  In the United States, periods and commas go inside quotation marks regardless of logic. Click HERE for an explanation (sort of).

  In the United Kingdom, Canada, and islands under the influence of British education, punctuation around quotation marks is more apt to follow logic. In American style, then, you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design." But in England you would write: My favorite poem is Robert Frost's "Design". The placement of marks other than periods and commas follows the logic that quotation marks should accompany (be right next to) the text being quoted or set apart as a title. Thus, you would write (on either side of the Atlantic):

  • What do you think of Robert Frost's "Design"? and
  • I love "Design"; however, my favorite poem was written by Emily Dickinson.
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  OneEyedJoe

  The unnecessary punctuation that bothers me the most is unnecessary usage of the sky comma. I'd be fine if people use all the exclamation marks that they want if they'd just stop making words that ought to be plural into possessives or contractions. This drives me so crazy that I can't even come up with an example out of the blue that makes sense to me to cite...luckily enough there's one right at the bottom of this page: Emoji's supported. Emoji's what is supported? Since when did the concept of emoji begin to own something? Or is it a link to things that Emoji supports? Oh? It's meant to just be a listing of what emojis are supported? Ugh.

  Also, while we're getting all grammar nazi-y I'm not sure what you're saying about quotes and punctuation, but you ought also to put the punctuation inside the quotes, btw.

  Edit - interesting link from tgnd - I didn't know that bit about quotes and punctuation was an american only thing...I must say there's an allure to how you limeys do it.
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  @the girl next door - we Brits spell favorite with a u in it ...
• 

  cofty

  Further to TGND's comment, we tend to use single quotation marks in the UK and save double for quotes within quotes.

  UK English - ‘The quality of mercy is not strained, it dropeth like gentle rain upon the earth beneath’. — Wm. Shakespeare.

  US English - "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." — George W. Bush
• 

  Listener

  I don't understand why this wasn't put in the humour section.

  The title uses more than three exclamation marks and dots to grab our attention, which Simon then goes on to say he dislikes.

  Personally, I like the way in which people evolve and this includes writing. It gives the opportunity to be more expressive which is a good thing.
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  steve2

  It's a great idea to puncture punctuation. My favourite activity is watching solar elipses.
  
• 

  cofty

  Steven Pinker's book, A Sense of Style is an excellent guide to writing that includes common-sense advice on grammar and punctuation.