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Archive for the ‘Punctuation nightmares’ Category

Fugly punctuation (or lack thereof)

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

So one of my personal BBEs (best blogs ever), Go Fug Yourself, discusses the lack on punctuation in the title of the show So You Think You Can Dance Australia.

See? Even the Fug Girls get the fact that bad punctuation confuses meaning.

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Test your proofreading skills

Monday, October 13th, 2008

A punctuation exam for writers” is today’s free download on MyRagan.com

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NY Times: Celebrating the Semicolon

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

The NY Times writes on the New York Public Transit System’s proper use of the semicolon.

The relevant sentence: “Please put it [your newspaper] in a trash can; that’s good news for everyone.”

The use of a semicolon in this instance is indeed correct, but I would prefer a period or an em dash. Either would add more punch to the final phrase.

And Allan M. Siegal, longtime arbiter of NYT style, is quoted as arguing for a colon: “The semicolon is correct, though I’d have used a colon, which I think would be a bit more sophisticated in that sentence.”

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Which versus That

Friday, June 29th, 2007

Just ran across a nice summary of when to use which and when to use that … which I always find hard to explain. From the Dayton PRSA website:

The difference between “that” and “which” can be vague until you get the hang of it. “Which” sets off parenthetical information — stuff that can be lifted right out of the sentence without changing the sentence’s main point. “That” introduces information essential to the main point of the sentence. “The press conference, which will be held at 2 p.m., will include a question-and-answer session.” “A company that listens to its customers will succeed.”

Thinking of which clauses as parenthetical information — bracketed by commas, rather than parentheses — is a nice way of explaining this distinction. And we didn’t even have to use the words restrictive and nonrestrictive, which tend to make non-editors’ eyes glaze over …

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National Punctuation Day

Monday, August 28th, 2006

Well, it’s hardly a national holiday … but perhaps a few people out there will be celebrating National Punctuation Day on September 24.

Be sure to check out the photos of punctuation gaffes displayed on the event site.

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