Callooh! Callay! It’s National Punctuation Day!
Here’s some info from an article in Wikipedia: “National Punctuation Day is a celebration of punctuation that occurs each year on September 24 in the United States of America. Founded by Jeff Rubin in 2004, National Punctuation Day simply promotes the correct usage of punctuation.”
For a brief history of the day, click HERE.
Of course, my first thought after reading that was “Who the hell is Jeff Rubin?” (TBH, I added “the hell” for dramatic effect.)
According to Wikipedia, “Jeff Rubin is a Canadian economist and author. He is a former chief economist at CIBC World Markets and is currently a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.” More info is HERE.
A Canadian? An economist? What the hell? (More dramatic effect, eh?) Okay, he’s also an author, hence, the interest in punctuation.
But stop the presses. Hmm…I checked the Wikipedia page on Rubin, and it made no mention at all about National Punctuation Day, which, I assume, would be his greatest achievement.
I did further research and found this on a different site: National Punctuation Day was started by “Jeff Rubin from the San Francisco, CA area; Jeff was a newsletter publisher and former reporter. In the early 2000s, he became increasingly frustrated by poor and erroneous punctuation." However, another site said the day was “established in 2004 by economist and author Jeff Rubin.”
So who knows – maybe I have the correct Jeff Rubin; maybe I don’t. The more important question at hand is whether or not I’ve confused you enough about this while using correct punctuation. Hmm…should I have ended that last statement with a question mark?
Let’s move on. I also found this quote:
"Your grammar is a reflection of your image. Good or bad, you have made an impression. And like all impressions, you are in total control.” ~ Jeffrey Gitomer
Of course, my first thought after reading that was “Who the hell is Jeffrey Gitomer?” (Again, I added “the hell” for dramatic effect.) My second thought? Should I have put a period after Gitomer’s last name in the statement above? Then I thought, “Is a comma necessary after the word ‘was’ in the opening sentence to this paragraph?”
Typically, the comma is the mark most frequently used to introduce quoted material. For example, “Emily Dickinson said, ‘To live is so startling it leaves but little room for other occupations.’”
However, when the quoted material flows directly from your introductory text, no punctuation should be used before the quotation. Yikes – I won’t even get into the placement of the period in that Dickinson quote I quoted (should periods be inside or outside the quotation marks?) and my use of double and single quotation marks.
Well, I’ve rambled on long enough. My original intent for today was to write about Emily Dickinson’s use of punctuation, particularly the em dash (which was named for her, you know – and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise).
Instead, I will leave you with three heavily punctuated poems by E. E. Cummings. What do you make of these?
1. s.ti:rst;hiso,nce;ma:n
(Hint: The first line says, “stirs this once man”…and think of a drunk man waking up in the gutter.)
2. r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r
(Hint: Think of a grasshopper hopping around and rearranging himself on the page.)
3. t,h;r:u;s,h;e:s
(Hint: Are those various punctuation marks in the opening line silent thrushes in the silver moonlight?)
Here’s some info from an article in Wikipedia: “National Punctuation Day is a celebration of punctuation that occurs each year on September 24 in the United States of America. Founded by Jeff Rubin in 2004, National Punctuation Day simply promotes the correct usage of punctuation.”
For a brief history of the day, click HERE.
Of course, my first thought after reading that was “Who the hell is Jeff Rubin?” (TBH, I added “the hell” for dramatic effect.)
According to Wikipedia, “Jeff Rubin is a Canadian economist and author. He is a former chief economist at CIBC World Markets and is currently a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation.” More info is HERE.
A Canadian? An economist? What the hell? (More dramatic effect, eh?) Okay, he’s also an author, hence, the interest in punctuation.
But stop the presses. Hmm…I checked the Wikipedia page on Rubin, and it made no mention at all about National Punctuation Day, which, I assume, would be his greatest achievement.
I did further research and found this on a different site: National Punctuation Day was started by “Jeff Rubin from the San Francisco, CA area; Jeff was a newsletter publisher and former reporter. In the early 2000s, he became increasingly frustrated by poor and erroneous punctuation." However, another site said the day was “established in 2004 by economist and author Jeff Rubin.”
So who knows – maybe I have the correct Jeff Rubin; maybe I don’t. The more important question at hand is whether or not I’ve confused you enough about this while using correct punctuation. Hmm…should I have ended that last statement with a question mark?
Let’s move on. I also found this quote:
"Your grammar is a reflection of your image. Good or bad, you have made an impression. And like all impressions, you are in total control.” ~ Jeffrey Gitomer
Of course, my first thought after reading that was “Who the hell is Jeffrey Gitomer?” (Again, I added “the hell” for dramatic effect.) My second thought? Should I have put a period after Gitomer’s last name in the statement above? Then I thought, “Is a comma necessary after the word ‘was’ in the opening sentence to this paragraph?”
Typically, the comma is the mark most frequently used to introduce quoted material. For example, “Emily Dickinson said, ‘To live is so startling it leaves but little room for other occupations.’”
However, when the quoted material flows directly from your introductory text, no punctuation should be used before the quotation. Yikes – I won’t even get into the placement of the period in that Dickinson quote I quoted (should periods be inside or outside the quotation marks?) and my use of double and single quotation marks.
Well, I’ve rambled on long enough. My original intent for today was to write about Emily Dickinson’s use of punctuation, particularly the em dash (which was named for her, you know – and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise).
Instead, I will leave you with three heavily punctuated poems by E. E. Cummings. What do you make of these?
1. s.ti:rst;hiso,nce;ma:n
(Hint: The first line says, “stirs this once man”…and think of a drunk man waking up in the gutter.)
2. r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r
(Hint: Think of a grasshopper hopping around and rearranging himself on the page.)
3. t,h;r:u;s,h;e:s
(Hint: Are those various punctuation marks in the opening line silent thrushes in the silver moonlight?)
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