Punctuation is Powerful
Mar 20, 2019 09:22:10 #
Mar 20, 2019 09:25:39 #
Mar 20, 2019 09:29:05 #
Mar 20, 2019 09:41:24 #
Mar 21, 2019 08:13:39 #
wrangler5
Loc: Missouri
Eats, Shoots and Leaves
An entire, and entirely delightful, little book on the subject.
An entire, and entirely delightful, little book on the subject.
Mar 21, 2019 08:15:47 #
Mar 21, 2019 08:27:48 #
bobbyjohn wrote:
Punctuation is Powerful
The power of a comma:
Stalin ordered a political prisoner to be sent to a prison camp for life. He dictated the following telegram to be sent to the interim prison in response to the man's request for a pardon:
Pardon impossible, to be sent to Siberia.
The telegraph operator saved the man's life by moving the comma so it read:
Pardon, impossible to be sent to Siberia.
Mar 21, 2019 08:46:31 #
Indeed! That’s something I kept hammering into my composition students: how punctuation can entirely change the meaning of a sentence.
Mar 21, 2019 09:29:08 #
Mar 21, 2019 10:22:08 #
Dannj wrote:
Let’s eat Grandma!
vs
Let’s eat, Grandma!
vs
Let’s eat, Grandma!
Ha! Another good one! I'll add that to mine.
Mar 21, 2019 10:25:43 #
Mar 21, 2019 10:27:38 #
Apologies for this non-G-rated example....From a real blooper headline
Students get first-hand job experience.
vs
Students get first hand job experience.
Students get first-hand job experience.
vs
Students get first hand job experience.
Mar 21, 2019 10:36:34 #
Ten thousand Divorce Attorneys CANNOT BE Wrong.....Punctuation MATTERS....trust me.
Mar 21, 2019 13:07:49 #
Mar 21, 2019 15:10:14 #
raymondh wrote:
It reads just fine with no punctuation!
It does indeed, but when punctuation is added, one can change the meaning. Hence the power of punctuation.
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