Comments on: Punctuation: why do we need it anyway?

By: Clare Lynch

Clare Lynch — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:58:59 +0000

Brazen – thank you for making my day. I’ll be sure to use that in my next writing course.

By: Brazen

Brazen — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:28:48 +0000

Punctuation is the difference between “I helped my uncle, Jack, off a donkey” and “I helped my uncle jack off a donkey”.

By: Shalim

Shalim — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:05:52 +0000

Hi again (forgot to keep an eye on the thread, as I’m now used to receiving replies direct on Twitter!)

Claire, I’m not entirely familar with that one, but I do often find it slightly strange when I find myself writing multiple “had”s one after the other!

Anyway, here’s the solution:

“That that is, is. That that is not, is not. Is that it? It is!”

By: susie

susie — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:04:13 +0000

Hi All. Punctuation can turn a love letter into hate mail–it’s just that simple! As an ESL teacher and writing coach, I teach practical, meaningful punctuation but neglect caps in social media cause it changes nothing. so let’s pick our battles erring on the side of clarity. and p.s., my particular fave is the dashing dash, not even on our keyboards but so expressive!

By: Clare Lynch

Clare Lynch — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:39:51 +0000

Hi Shalim – I’d not come across that puzzle before, but it is rather wonderful.

Are you a fan of that sentence with those eleven uses of the word “had” in it, too?

By: Shalim

Shalim — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:22:28 +0000

I’m reminded of this old puzzle that’s meaningless until you add punctuation:

that that is is that that is not is not is that it it is

(I think I’ll go tweet that now…)

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:44:58 +0000

Sarah, All I can say about your marvelous post is, !.