Weekend Wrinkle: Punctuation & Road Signs

PunctuationandroadsignsHow many of us can’t seem to use punctuation marks correctly? How many believe they won’t ever get it right?

Now, how many have passed their driver’s test?

Punctuation is a lot easier if you think of the different marks as different road signs. Of course, there are rules to go along with these signs, rules we ignore at our peril. On the other hand, sometimes we don’t always strictly follow the rules. (Take it from a “lead foot.”)

stopsignPeriods [.]are like stop signs. They bring the reader to a complete stop.

Exclamation points [!] are like caution signs.caution

crossroadsQuestion marks [?] are like crossroads signs.

Commas [,] are like yield signs.yieldsign

Semicolons [;] and colons [:] are like four-way stops. allwaystop

detourParentheses [()] are like detour signs.

Dashes [–] are like lane shifts.lanneshift

Okay, so you get the basic idea. It’s not a perfect system, but it’ a good way for me to remember proper punctuation.

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4 thoughts on “Weekend Wrinkle: Punctuation & Road Signs

  1. The apostrophe is the one that trips many people. Some seem to think it’s supposed to go with the letter “S”, as in “apple’s 59c”. Then there are the words that already end in “S”, as in “Jones” – is it “Jones’ ” or “Jones’s”? “Apostrophes’ ” or “apostrophes’s”

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