I have a number of friends who would easily fall into the category of grammar thumpers (think Bible-thumpers). Like the folks who come calling at your doorstep trying to convince you that your current path leads straight to hell, grammar thumpers bemoan the inevitable fall of civilization indicated by the inappropriate use of apostrophes. Lynne Truss is one of those people.
I am not. While I stick closer to proper use of grammar and punctuation than many on the internet, I do not hold with those who faint at the state of writing today. Sure, I cringe many times when reading online these days. However, it’s not the end of the world. It’s not even the end of understanding.
Truss uses many anecdotes to make her case for better use of punctuation, particularly apostrophes and commas. The title of the book is one such example:
A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
Why?asks 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.
P a n d a . Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.
The problem with many of her examples is that they are rare or nonsensical. And I don’t mean nonsensical because pandas don’t talk, eat sandwiches, or shoot guns. Nonsensical because the context of the entry will clear up the meaning to anyone reading it despite the addition of an extra comma. And rare because there are few instances in the vast amount of writing in existence when poor punctuation actually makes a practical difference beyond misunderstanding what was written.
Her book even makes it clear why the situation arose, though she only makes the obvious conclusion in a couple of spots. Punctuation rules are numerous and complicated. For instance, she lists eight so-called rules for using apostrophes (and she states her list is not complete). However, each of these rules is not so much a rule as a rule of thumb, since none of them can be applied universally. Each has multiple exceptions. Only a pedant will remember all of them. Is it any wonder people don’t bother after they determine that people who read them generally understand the meaning without the proper use of apostrophes?
The book is somewhat entertaining. I’m also not against writers using punctuation pedantically should they wish to make a statement. Eats, Shoots & Leaves will give such folks plenty of justification to do so. Those who wish to correct our use of punctuation will find their manifesto within these pages. The book won’t convince anyone not already on board. Expect the rest of us to continue to tell y’all to Get a life!
when we get corrected, because we aren’t going to change because of the book.
Title: Eats, shoots & leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation
Author: Lynne Truss
Cover creator: James Nunn
Imprint / publisher: Gotham Books / Penguin
Format: Hardcover
Length: xxvii, 209 p. (includes bibliography)
Publication date: April 2004
ISBN-10: 1-592-40087-6
Subject: English language — Punctuation
LC classification: PE1450 .T75 2004
