5.27.2006

Punctuation Really Does Matter!

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" aks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

Panda: large black and white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Finally a book that gets it right! I'm not the only grammar, spelling, and punctuation geek out there. Lynne Truss' new book aptly titled "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" is a wonderfully hip tour through solid examples about why this stuff is so cool. Proper command of punctuation can make all the difference. Don't believe me? Check out the biblical passage from Luke, where a single stray comma can make all the difference as to whether you make it to heaven or not.

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