Have you celebrated National Punctuation Day before?

  • Thread starter Thread starter BobG
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around National Punctuation Day, with participants sharing their favorite punctuation marks, humorous anecdotes, and thoughts on the significance of punctuation in writing. The scope includes personal preferences, playful commentary, and reflections on punctuation's role in communication.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Humorous

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express a fondness for parentheses, noting their utility in adding non-essential clauses to sentences.
  • Others highlight the interrobang as an underappreciated punctuation mark, questioning its lack of attention.
  • A participant humorously suggests that lists can simplify writing and reduce the need for proper grammar and punctuation.
  • There are playful remarks about the overuse of exclamation points and the perception of those who use them frequently.
  • Several posts include humorous examples of punctuation misuse, such as the infamous "James while John had had..." sentence.
  • Participants share advice regarding punctuation in tattoos, particularly concerning apostrophes.
  • Some express concerns about the economic implications of punctuation, suggesting a need for "donating" punctuation marks to those in need.
  • There are light-hearted references to the importance of colons and periods in various contexts, including health-related advice.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally share a playful appreciation for punctuation, but there is no consensus on which punctuation mark is the best or most significant. Various humorous and serious viewpoints coexist without resolution.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes a mix of serious and humorous takes on punctuation, with some posts containing playful exaggerations and personal anecdotes that may not reflect broader writing conventions.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in writing, linguistics, or those who enjoy playful discussions about language and punctuation may find this thread engaging.

BobG
Science Advisor
Messages
364
Reaction score
87
Yay! It's my favorite (but just by a narrow margin) holiday: National Punctuation Day!

Oh, but it would be so cool to devote this day to donating commas, periods, and (Yes!) even semi-colons to those on our humble forum that lack the economic means of purchasing their own.

It would also be neat to hear everyone's favorite symbol of punctuation, why they find that particular punctuation mark so enthralling (as if any punctuation mark could ever fail to be enthralling!); however please keep in mind that paragraphs (which are definitely not punctuation marks) are very important unto themselves.

My favorite punctuation mark is the parenthesis (as if anyone who has read my past posts couldn't have guessed that). I like them because you can slide them directly into the middle of sentence or even in between sentences. While the things I usually enclose in parenthesis would be more appropriate as footnotes, the reader is saved the inconvenience of having to look all the way down to the bottom of the page to read my somewhat irrelevant (but incredibly interesting) asides. Besides, half the stuff I put in parentheses don't even belong in footnotes, since it's usually just my train of thought taking off on some tangent (and it's always a bad sine when a person goes off on a tangent).

Pick your favorite punctuation mark: National Punctuation Day.

Strangely, I had no idea that there was a solar ellipsis scheduled for September 24 of this year, but then again...
 
Science news on Phys.org
BobG said:
My favorite punctuation mark is the parenthesis (as if anyone who has read my past posts couldn't have guessed that).
I, too, am fond of non-essential clauses. They add so much to the discussion! (My tech editor begs to disagree.) Parentheses are very nice for such non-essential clauses; however, they are not the only tool at your disposal. A word of advice, Bob: Don't limit yourself just to parentheses with your non-essential clauses. Spice things up a bit—an em dash works quite nicely and makes your writing look a bit less LISPish (lots of inane silly parentheses).
 
The interrobang doesn't get the attention it deserves. Why is that?!
 
Last edited:
But it's not an international punctuation day period
 
When your period is more like a question mark, you may be pregnant.
 
BobG said:
Pick your favorite punctuation mark: National Punctuation Day.

That list is missing all the neat forms of punctuation used in forming lists! Lists are great, by the way.
  • Lists obviate the need proper grammar and punctuation
  • Lists help you think like a manager
    • Use lists often enough and you'll be a candidate for a promotion
    • Using powerpoint to make your lists helps make that promo a sure thing
  • Lists make it easy to put in lots of non-essential stuff
    • Just make a sublist
      • Deeply nested even!
      • You can toss in whatever crosses your mind!
  • Complete sentences? No need for that in a list!
 
BobG said:
Yay! It's my favorite (but just by a narrow margin) holiday: National Punctuation Day!

Oh, but it would be so cool to devote this day to donating commas, periods, and (Yes!) even semi-colons to those on our humble forum that lack the economic means of purchasing their own.
And then there are those people that are blessed with a surplus of punctuation marks. Very often they are people of apparently modest means, but they have such a surplus of punctuation that they can put signs on their lawns saying things like "Bunnie's for sale". Such profligate excess in tough times like these.
 
lisab said:
The interrobang doesn't get the attention it deserves. Why is that?!

Because it's hard to catch a glimpse of. You have to find the most sincere soy bean field in your town and then stay up all night hoping the field you chose actually is the most sincere soy bean field. A wrong choice and you spend the night getting slugged by your girlfriend.
 
turbo-1 said:
And then there are those people that are blessed with a surplus of punctuation marks. Very often they are people of apparently modest means, but they have such a surplus of punctuation that they can put signs on their lawns saying things like "Bunnie's for sale". Such profligate excess in tough times like these.

A note of advice to those getting a tattoo. If in doubt, leave the apostrophe out. You can always add an apostrophe mark, but it's darn hard to erase when it comes to tattoos. Although, I guess a person could take that to a ridiculous extreme.

[PLAIN]http://www.typobuddy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/cards_your_delt.jpg

Thirteen words and four misspellings! A new league record!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #10
BobG said:
A note of advice to those getting a tattoo. If in doubt, leave the apostrophe out. You can always add an apostrophe mark, but it's darn hard to erase when it comes to tattoos. Although, I guess a person could take that to a ridiculous extreme.

[PLAIN]http://www.typobuddy.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/cards_your_delt.jpg

Thirteen words and four misspellings! A new league record!

Someone has to invent a tattoo needle with spell check and an undo button.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #11
I never use exclamation points. I feel like an idiot using them. Some people use them after every sentence. They look like idiots.
 
  • #12
leroyjenkens said:
I never use exclamation points. I feel like an idiot using them. Some people use them after every sentence. They look like idiots.

leroyjenkens and lisa! - the PF date from hell!
 
  • #16
turbo-1 said:
Reminds me of something...hmmm...



I want that two minutes of my life back please :-)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #17
IMP said:
I want that two minutes of my life back please :-)
Ok, just don't spend them watching badger, badger, badger. :devil:
 
  • #18
We should use this day to remember the great crisis of 1997:

http://www.csun.edu/liberalstudies/gateway/fall_06/martin_period_shortage.pdf
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #20
[ . . . ]
 
  • #21
Remember, everyone over fifty should have their colons checked once a year.
 
  • #22
Ivan Seeking said:
Remember, everyone over fifty should have their colons checked once a year.
That's not one of those semicolon ideas is it?
 
  • #23
I do have a tendency to overuse my colons sometimes when I write.
 
  • #24
jtbell said:
I do have a tendency to overuse my colons sometimes when I write.

As women get older, they lose their periods.
 

Similar threads

News Obama Inaugural Address: Summary & Analysis
  • · Replies 33 ·
2
Replies
33
Views
7K