are you a stickler?

one of my piano students gave me one of those page-a-day calendars for Christmas. it's based on the lynne truss book "eats, shoots and leaves", which i subsequently borrowed from the public library. the book is about punctuation (but it's not what you think!), how important it is to language and why we need to preserve it.

it starts with a story about a panda that enters a restaurant and places an order. upon finishing his meal, he takes out a rifle and fires a few rounds into the air. as he leaves, he tosses a wildlife manual at the shocked waiter. opening it up to the entry on pandas, the waiter reads that the panda "eats, shoots and leaves".

what's the difference between its and it's? dogs and dog's? how often should you use a comma? what's the point of a semicolon? what is a semicolon? what's an ellipsis? should you use a colon or a dash or parentheses? where should you insert a hyphen? does any of this matter?

in her book, truss clears up common myths about the uses of various punctuation marks. she separates the strict rules (such as its vs. it's) from personal preference and also provides information on the history and development of punctuation. i highly recommend it. the only downside is that once you read it there is a good chance you will become hypersensitive towards your own punctuation, as has been the case with me.

truss makes a compelling case for the preservation of punctuation and calls all sticklers to unite and fight back against its misuse. she half-jokingly suggests refusing to reply to emails that contain punctuation errors, or sending it back corrected. she also recommends carrying around correction fluid and red marker to remove unnecessary punctuation and to fill in missing ones.
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"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."
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"The practice of "pointing" our writing has always been offered in a spirit of helpfulness, to underline meaning and prevent awkward misunderstandings between writer and reader."
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"Punctuation directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play."