It’s National Punctuation Day?
It’s National Punctuation Day.
I mean – it’s NATIONAL PUNCTUATION DAY!
(Of course, only a writer could so enthuse for such a day.)
As writer Russell Baker aptly put it, “When speaking aloud, you punctuate constantly – with body language. Your listener hears commas, dashes, question marks, exclamation points, quotation marks as you shout, whisper, pause, wave your arms, roll your eyes, wrinkle your brow. In writing, punctuation plays the role of body language. It helps readers hear the way you want to be heard.”“How might I celebrate,” you ask, “what National Punctuation Day founder Jeff Rubin calls ‘a celebration of the lowly comma, correctly used quotation marks, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the very-mysterious ellipsis’?”
Well…I recommend the following actions: first visit the website Jeff Rubin created; admire each and every pictured punctuation mark and give it its proper due; next take this test to check your command of commas/apostrophes; laugh heartily while you read Lynne Truss’ EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES (Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference); and finally, consider completing my Wednesday Writing Workout which offers writers a chance to re-purpose the 14 standard marks of punctuation in English grammar to create original emoticons all their own. [See below.]Enjoy!
Esther Hershenhorn
P.S.While doing All Things Punctuation, don’t forget to celebrate your inner exclamation mark! J
P.P.S.
And for sure, don’t forget to enter our Book Giveaway to win a copy of Barbara Krasner’s picture book biography of Golda Meir - GOLDIE TAKES A STAND: GOLDA MEIR’S FIRST CRUSADE.
The deadline is September 26.
Those Emotive Punctuation Marks!
I M J 2 B writing about emoticons – punctuation marks RE-purposed to instantly connote an emotion when communicating electronically.
Think: little sideways smiley faces. :)
I learned all about them when creating my baby board book TXTNG MAMA TXTNG BABY which just celebrated its first anniversary.
[FYI: it’s now available at Joan Cusick’s JUDY MAXWELL HOMEand numerous copies will be raffled off at Northwestern University’s November 1 Community Baby Shower.]
The word “emoticon” blends “emotion” and “icon.” An emoticon allows for a quick expression of feeling when the communication is electronic.[FYI: it’s now available at Joan Cusick’s JUDY MAXWELL HOMEand numerous copies will be raffled off at Northwestern University’s November 1 Community Baby Shower.]
How might YOU (!) combine and re-arrange any and all of the 14 marks of punctuation below to create an original emoticon?
Feel free to use keyboard letters, spacing options and numbers too. Turn them upside down and sideways!
Think outside the []. JPlay.
Experiment.In other words, have fun!
Think, too, of any and all emotions/situations – Joy, Distress, Anger, Confusion, e.g.
If you need inspiration, click here to see more examples.Think, too, of any and all emotions/situations – Joy, Distress, Anger, Confusion, e.g.
And be sure to share them with our TeachingAuthors readers so we can use them to help them catch on.
0 Comments on WWW: Make Your (Punctuation) Mark! as of 9/24/2014 10:00:00 AM
Add a Comment
So, looking at the numbers…
As a parent who may perhaps rely on beer and wine ocassionally, and a dog person who doesn’t really ‘get’ cats, and a comitted blogger who did their best to contribute to the nearly 11 billion words pressed…
I feel nicely represented here. Nice one. Time to crack on with April!
This is one of my fav WP posts of the month. Love reading the stats and seeing what everyone was up to. LOVE this!
Can’t wait ’til I make it on the Hot List!
I notice that there are many, many spiritually-oriented blogs here, but they very seldom get any notice. While it may be true that some people use their blogs to promote their own beliefs, not everyone does, and some of these bloggers can actually write very well. So I’m wondering…why is it that, say, Buddhist blogs, Sufi blogs such as my own Sufism-oriented blog or more existentially, philosophically or transpersonally-focused blogs don’t seem to get any notice? I live in the Bible Belt, and I can see the difficulties inherent in this situation, but as I said: some of these people can actually write, and do so for the sake of inspiration and the promotion of religious universalism, to say nothing of giving comfort and enlightenment. Surely these topics are at least as worthy of notice as beer-drinking, sex and football, not to mention politics? IS WordPress the “thinking person’s blog?”
The cats are biding their time before they pounce …
is there any similar for just all swedish users? would be great to have a flashback for other then english words. I just love stats!
It would indeed be neat to compare stats across languages. For now, though, we only present these figures on English tags.
Ok, too bad.
Simply brilliant! These stats are amazing. Love this understanding and meeting new folks every single day on WP!
While this particular post is meant to be on the lighter side, we feature great posts on topics like religion, philosophy, and many others over at Freshly Pressed, our editor’s picks showcase. We also frequently round up great blogs on focused topics on this blog, and your suggestions are noted — thanks for the feedback!