August 23, 2024
One of my favorite books about grammar is Eats, Shoots & Leaves. In one chapter, the author (Lynne Truss) enumerates the many different roles of a comma and, after all that, reveals “the big final rule for the comma”: She Read more…
August 13, 2024
Colons and semicolons are spicy punctuation. If commas and periods are salt and pepper, then colons and semicolons are cayenne pepper. Here’s why: You can usually get on OK without ever using a colon or semicolon in your writing. Just Read more…
August 7, 2024
The Oxford comma (also called the serial comma) might be the most controversial punctuation mark ever. People fight over it. Heated words are exchanged. Angry glares are inevitable. Broken friendships are possible. Seriously, though, there has been many an argument Read more…
July 25, 2024
If you don’t know a lot about dashes, this is gonna rock your world. Really. Everything is about to change for you. Because our friend the dash is not alone. There are actually not one, not two, but THREE kinds Read more…