[ebooktalk] Re: Grammar and punctuation.
- From: "Elaine Harris \(Rivendell\)" <elaineharris@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ebooktalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2013 12:24:45 +1000
Hello David,
If you want to get to know our old friend the apostrophe a little better,
there is the delicious little tome by Lynne Truss: "Eats, Shoots and
Leaves". Instructive and very funny. Another one I read purely out of
interest then bought shortly thereafter.
Pardon the heresy but it may mean more in text or hard copy; the examples
may be clearer that way.
You wouldn't think a book on punctuation could be funny but she manages it.
It also came in useful when the University of Tasmania's Honours' supervisor
for undergraduates, an American economist, began correcting students' work
by changing the first letter of the word immediately following a colon to a
capital.
This is an Americanism. The only time you use a capital letter immediately
following a colon is if the word is a proper noun or, I suppose, for
emphasis in a list.
However, poor old Scott didn't know this until we alerted him and took it
well when we did.
Still, this is the same man who also changed students' spellings of words
such as behaviour and indeed honours to their American equivalent, deducting
marks in the process, until a kindly colleague put him straight.
Such is life.
Take care,
Elaine
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- » [ebooktalk] Re: Grammar and punctuation. - Elaine Harris (Rivendell)
