Never a dull moment in using commas, etc.

“Eats, Shoots & Leaves”
by Lynne Truss
Gotham Books, 2004


A grammar class, many must admit, is never interesting. The English teacher recites the rules, asks you to draw a sentence diagram, and is ambivalent about when to use the preposition “of” or the preposition “for.” On other occasions, she insists that we should never end our sentences with a preposition.

I recall that the irrepressible Winston Churchill followed that principle when he objected to a policy, saying: “Up with which we shall not put.” It sounds ridiculous, but it is decidedly grammatical.

I had a long discussion once with writers and critics in writers’ workshops, and I was told that there is a trend toward “minimalism” even in the use of commas. “If you can avoid commas, the new rule says, just do it! In an intended pun, they say: “Never lapse into a comma!”

And yet, no one can argue about the need to place the commas in their right places. Here’s a sampler:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.

What a difference a comma makes, you may explain. It may trigger an endless anthropological debate!

What about this sign in a restaurant: “No dogs please.” Without the comma before “please,” the statement is “an indefensible generalization, since many dogs do please.”

The examples above are just two of numerous illustrations offered by an entertaining and instructive book titled “Eats, Shoot & Leaves,” by Lynne Truss. Even the title has its own story to tell. It’s about a Panda which suddenly develops the impulse to shoot. Check out the book and find out.

The book is actually a well-reasoned piece asking “sticklers” (those who care about punctuation) to unite and save the world – and the word – from ruin. The author expresses her lament: “While we look in horror at a badly punctuated sign, the world carries on around us, blind to our plight.”

“When words such as ‘phenomena’, ‘media’, or cherubim” are treated as singular, some of us cannot suppress actual screams.”

I have a collection of manuals of style from the respected newspapers around the world – those of the New York Times, Associated Press, The Economist, Wall Street Journal -- and their rules for precise language and unerring punctuation are laudable. This book by Ms. Truss, however, stands out as one of the most passionate – and interesting – about the need for correct (or proper) punctuation.

When the author is not seized into frenzy by a misused word, she settles for a sober thought like this: “Punctuation is a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling.”

She continues: “The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it, there is no reliable way of communicating meaning. Punctuation herds words together, keeps others apart. Punctuation directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play.”

Older editors of newspapers, including a respected boss of mine, rue the fact that many of our deskmen are no longer sticklers for punctuations. Read the newspapers any day and you will know that the misuse of punctuation is as widespread like common cold.

The author of this book cares enough about this trend – and has written a magnificent piece to serve as a call to arms against further misuse of punctuation, and against the deterioration of expression.

Well structured language expression has even suffered further with the wide use of emails, which has defied many rules of punctuation. Worse, the era of text messaging'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">text messaging has introduced an alien language that assaults the sensibilities of people who respect the language – whether English or our local dialect.

“Eats, Shoots & Leaves” is must read book. You don’t have to be an English major to find it useful. When you struggle over the letter composed by your secretary, or you are thrown into confusion by a hastily made report by your manager – chances are they have thrown overboard our only hope in communicating clearly and in making sense of this already confused world.

And yes, wrong punctuation can even trigger a theological debate. The book cites these two sentences as examples, where commas are placed in different locations:

“Verily, I say unto thee, This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”
“Verily I say unto thee this day, Thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”

The author has this to say: “The first version, which is how Protestants interpret the passage, lightly skips over the whole unpleasant business of Purgatory and takes the crucified thief straight to heaven with our Lord. The second promises Paradise at some later date, and leaves Purgatory nicely in the picture for Catholics, who believe in it.”

You can have many uses for this book. It can actually be a manual for grammar. It can also sharpen your sensitivity to any punctuation infractions, if it does not clarify some fine distinctions about the use of such grammar marks.

The book has done something else, which to me is very important: The book has just communicated one central truth: There is actually never a dull moment in the world of punctuation.