Beautiful Victoria Street Richmond

Diary entry, January 21st 2012

Finished applying for a position. Took three hours to write resume, cover letter and "Statement of Suitability".
 Decided to treat myself to a bowl of Pho in Victoria St.

Parked the car in the Aldi supermarket carpark and strolled to my favourite, Than Phoang. Beautiful day, hot, steamy. Chinese Spring Festival in full swing. Dragons and fireworks and young men and women from the Buddhist society blessing business's in their noisy manner.

Lovely people in Victoria Street. All those nice young men nodding and smiling at me. so friendly. Some even asked me what I was chasing. They obviously realise I can't read Chinese characters and are offering to assist with whatever it is I want to purchase. I declined their offers with good grace and continued on to my soup shop. But it restores your faith in humanity doesn't it.
Sat and ate my soup (Special Beef with with tendon) and the pretty young lady brought me ice water.
Strolled back to my car and passed the same young men smiling, winking, nodding. I smiled politely noticing they all had bad teeth and were, well, a little scruffy looking.

Asian people. So caring and helpful.

The Story of Punctuation

 Punctuation: the beginning

Over the time I have been writing my blogs, my idea has been to show that punctuation is an integral part of the English language. Along with spelling and grammar, punctuation is part of a language that is changing and evolving. It had a beginning, it has evolved from that beginning and continues to evolve to who knows where in the future.

I talked about where it came from and why it was needed, how it evolved, where it will go and where it has been.

I have written a little about the correct usage of some items and how it has become an obsession for some people. I have tried to have a little fun with punctuation.

What is it good for?

Punctuation (from the Latin punctus for point or pricking) is the use of a series of symbols to help in the understanding of English both written and aural. The word is from the same Latin root as punctilious meaning attentative to etiquette, and punctual meaning on time. [1]

Punctuation marks are a guide to when to pause (the full stop or period), when to give a pause (the colon) when to give a shorter pause (the semi-colon) and the shortest pause (the comma). It also advises when to add an inflection (exclamation mark or question mark), and much more.

Punctuation can add lilt and music to reading a piece out loud. It clarifies the meaning rather than leaving it slightly ambiguous. 

The origins of punctuation


According to the New World Encyclopaedia [1] and Wikipedia [2] the oldest use of punctuation was on a stone tablet called "Mesha Stele." or "Moabit stone."

It was written circa 850 BCE by King Mesha of Moab (now part of Jordan) and is notable for employing points between the words and horizontal strokes between the sense section as punctuation.

  

The introduction of the first standard system of punctuation is attributed to Aldo Manuzio.

He is credited with popularizing the practice of ending sentences with the colon or full stop and also for inventing Italic type.


Punctuation then took a big step with the introduction of movable type in the 15^th century.
Johannes Gutenberg invented his printing press with movable type around 1540. 

He is also credited with inventing the hyphen. If a word was not completed at the end of a line he included a hyphen to indicate it was unfinished and contin-
ued it on the next line. 

Punctuation evolved even more quickly from there. Well relatively quickly. Over the next 400 years new punctuation marks were devised for various reasons until...

‘By the 19th century, punctuation in the western world had evolved "to classify the marks hierarchically, in terms of weight” [3]

The use of punctuation was not standardised until after the invention of printing. According to the 1885 edition of The American Printer, the importance of punctuation was noted in various sayings by children such as:

 Charles the First walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off.

With a semi-colon and a comma added it reads:

Charles the First walked and talked; half an hour after, his head was cut off.  

Punctuation then seemed to get complicated. Rules evolved, writers argued, experts wrote style guides. One style guide had seventeen rules for the use of the apostrophe. 

People still get up in arms about incorrect usage of punctuation especially the apostrophe.

Believe it or not there is even an Apostrophe Protection Society which has its own website with photos of sign writers errors. It’s a lot of fun and worth a look. http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/


Some Tricky ones

Brackets or parantheses ( ) [ ] { }

The intention of the bracket is to include additional information within a sentence. The sentenceshould make sence with or without the information inside the brackets.

For example. I went to an exhibition (by Henry Maas) on Sunday at the Collingwood Gallery. 
Delete the information inside the brackets and the sentence still stands. 

If an editor wants to add the additional information, he (or she) would have used square brackets indicating it was inserted by someone other than the writer. So it would be:

I went to an exhibition [by Henry Maas] on Sunday at the Collingwood Gallery. 

Different types of brackets can be used together in one sentence (if you want to include an aside [or a date] or superfluous information) as required.


The apostrophe

The apostrophe is probably the most misunderstood of all the punctuation family. Poor ‘poste doesn’t know where to stand. He gets pushed back and forth like the runt of the litter.
     Stand here in front of the s.
     No no, back here after the s.
Back and forth, up and down. Poor little fellow doesn’t know if he is an apostrophe, a comma or a quote mark half the time.


The Apostrophe Protection Society has tried to simplify things for him and his users. It has written the three basic rules for its use on their website  

      1. Apostrophises are used to denote a missing letter or letters,

       for example:

I can't    for  I cannot.
It's         for  it is.
I don't   for   I do not.

2. They are used to denote possession,

       for example:

The dog's bone.
The company's logo.
Jones's bakery (but Joneses' bakery if owned by more than one Jones)

3. Apostrophes are never ever used to denote plurals!

       Common examples of such abuse (all seen in real life!) are: 

Banana’s for sale.

1000’s of bargains.

Menu’s printed to order.

This video is dedicated to Lynn Truss who wrote the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" [7]







Bad Punctuation Joke.


An apostrophe walkes into a bar.
The barman says ‘I think you’re in the wrong place’ 



The future of punctuation 

Earlier this year researchers asked the question 'are children losing the capacity to read and write? [4]

The answer they came up with after their research is probably not.

It is believed that having fun with texting is creative and 'leads to creativity and intuition in crosswords, poetry and so on'.

Masla and Tarica quote Britain's poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy ( who 'believes texting is the ideal springboard to poetry writing') and psychologist Dr. Nenagh Kemp who states that 'language is liquid and flourishing.' and 'it makes sense that someone who is good at language, is also good at crosswords, poetry, etc.'

Young people do understand that while they can have fun and be creative with texts and emails, it is not acceptable in essays etc. They understand that they cannot and they do not use incorrect spelling, grammar or punctuation in formal letter writing or schoolwork.

The fucha is probly safe in their hands -:) 

Some of the emoticons, abbreviations and shorthand will probably find their way into the language in the near future. And why shouldn’t they! On with the evolution! 

Fun with punctuation

In 1999, a journalist for the Washington Post Bob Hirshfield, who was heartily sick of poor spelling and grammar, wrote an article about a new computer virus called the Strunkenwhite Virus. [5]

Hirshfield took the name for his virus from a book called 'The Elements of Style' by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.

This virus (according to Hirshfield) was 'more dangerous than the Chernobyl threat'. Apparently the virus refused to deliver emails with grammatical errors. If such emails were found it would shut down the computer that sent the email and take hours to restart.

He quoted an FBI agent who (via the telephone because he was too scared to use his computer email system) stated this insidious virus was 'a threat to freedom and Western Society, blah, blah, blah.'

Summation

Writing has been with us for less than 3000 years. Originally only a select few had access writing and the ability to read. The increase of education, the printing press, newspapers, computers and the internet have speeded up the use of language and with it punctuation. Today there are languages within languages. Geologists, Chemists, Librarians, Physicists, Big bang Theorists and Engineers, while they al have a common language in English, they also have their own words and phrases idiosyncratic to their professions. With these words and phrases, by necessity come punctuation marks. New languages require new punctuation.

The artists and writers of the world also develop new language and with it new punctuation.
Some writers avoid punctuation. Gertrude Stein hated the comma and William Burroughs had his own punctuation.
Others like E.E. Cummings used it like it was colour in a painting [6]

                                                ' while in the battered
                                                  bodies the odd unlovely
                                                  souls struggle    slowly   and    writhe
                                                  like caught.  brave:  flies;                    '

Why should we imagine that the current signs used as punctuation or the current rules of usage should stand in stone. Punctuation is a part of Language. Language evolves.

Bibliography

[1]Mesha Stele n.d. New World Encyclopaedia. viewed 7 Oct 2011, <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mesha_Stele?oldid=836298>

[2] Mesha Stele n.d. Wikipedia viewed 7 Oct. 2011,<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesha_Stele>

[3]Punctuation n.d. Wikipedia viewed 7 Oct 2011,<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation>

[4] Maslen, G. Tarica, G 2011, 'Textese g8 training 4 poets of 2 moro' The Age 12 Sept, p. 16

[5]   The Pluperfect Virus n.d.bobsfridge viewed 22 October 2011,< http://www.bobsfridge.com/virus.html>

[6] Reviews of selected poetry collections  n.d. Modern American Poetry, viewed 23 October 2011,<http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/cummings/reviews.htm>


[7] Truss, L. 2009, Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Fourth Estate, Hammersmith, UK.

The Apostrophe

An Apostrophe walks into a rather seedy bar.

The barman says - 'Mate I think you're in the wrong place' [1]
                                          ----------------------------------------------------------------------


Why do people get so hung up (pardon the pun) on the apostrophe?


Did you know there is even an Apostrophe Protection Society in the U.K? 
True! You can find their website here.


Wikipedia goes on and on about the rules governing the use of the apostrophe. Pages and pages and pages of rules.

For those interested you can view them here. Personally I wouldn't bother! I'd rather use the three basic rules offered by the Apostrophe Protection Society (herein refered to as the APS because I am tired of writing the word apostrophe.)

The pedants of apostrophe usage, APS [2] say there are three basic rules and I'm happy to go with them.


 Their basic rules are:-


1. They are used to denote a missing letter or letters, for example:

I can't for I cannot.
It's for it is.
I don't for I do not.


2. They are used to denote possession, for example:

The dog's bone.
The company's logo.
Jones's bakery (but Joneses' bakery if owned by more than one Jones)


3. Apostrophes are never ever used to denote plurals! Common examples of such abuse (all seen in real life!) are:

Banana's for sale. - should be Bananas for sale.
Menu's printed to order - should read Menus printed to order.
1000's of bargains - should be 1000s of bargains


                          --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


For much of this blog I have referred to a book titled Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. by Lynn Truss. [3]
It's a very funny read even if you don't give a hoot about punctuation, give it a look.
There is a review of the book on The Guardian.
You can read it here.

[1] -The Author.
[2] The apostrophe Protection Society
[3] Truss, L 2009, Eats, Shoots and Leaves:The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Fourth Estate, Hammersmith, UK.

You can quote me

Inverted commas are also known as quotation marks


They can be single ‘ ...’ or double “...”

There doesn’t seem to be any set rule except when using both in one sentence, as in:

He questioned “Why would Jack say ‘You shouldn’t do that’ ?”


In this instance the first quotation mark is double and the inner quotation is in single quote marks.

Note the question mark is inside the final quotation mark.


Even in the case of single use of quotation marks the punctuation is inside the quote marks

“Will you be my best friend?”


The only time the end punctuation is outside the quote marks is when you might use quotes to draw attention to a phrase.

For example: I don’t believe in ‘mercy killing’.


If a quotation uses poor grammar use [sic.] to note it.

She wrote, "I would rather die then [sic] be seen wearing the same outfit as my sister."
She should have used than instead of then. [1]


Quote marks can also be used to denote sarcasm or irony. [2] as in

In his “wisdom”...

Quesgtion: What is the difference between Irony and sarcasm?

Irony is conveying something by saying the exact opposite. Sarcasm is meant to be hurtful an mocking. Irony is not. [3]

Quotation marks have other uses as well.

For example you might put a nickname in quote marks. Edward “Carji” Greeves.

Or to denote the title of a book. Peter Robinsons “Aftermath”

Or for “unusual” usage. My dog just seems to “know” when I am approaching the house.

You can even use verbal quote marks although thankfully the practice appears to be dying out.

Put your arms out shoulder wide and head height and waggle the first two fingers on each hand as you say the “quote”. It’s very silly and you look like a twot.

To summarise:

You can use single or double quote marks, you can use them for direct quotes, or to emphasise a word, you can use them verbally. The main rule is punctuation (full stop, question mark, etc.) goes inside the closing quote marks except on rare occasions.


[1 Quotes,Grammarbook, viewed 9 october 2011< http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp>


[2] Quotation mark,Wikpedia, viewed 9 october 2011,<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark>


[3] Sarcasm-vs-irony, UsingEnglish, viewed 9 october 2011,<http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/67799-sarcasm-vs-irony.html>

In the beginning...

According to the New World Encyclopaedia [1] and Wikipedia[2] the oldest use of punctuation was in a document called "Mesha Stele." or "Moabit stone."

It was written circa 850 BCE by King Mesha of Moab (now part of Jordan) and is notable for

employing points between the words and horizontal strokes between the sense section as punctuation.

It was discovered in 1868 and is on display at the Louvre Museum.

It is also the oldest known reference to the Hebrew god Yahweh.

Movable type and printing in the 14th and 15th centuries saw the beginnings of punctuation as we know it today.

The introduction of a standard system of punctuation is attributed to Aldo Manuzio.

 He is credited with popularizing the practice of ending sentences with the colon or full stop and also for inventing Italic type.

Punctuation in other European languages is the same as English with a few exceptions.

 In France for instance instead of inverted commas for quotation marks they use << and >>.

Greeks use the semicolon ( ;) as a question mark and in Spain they put an upside down question mark at the beginning of a question and a normal question mark at the end.
So it would look like this:

¿Is your name Bernie? – except  it would be in Spanish of course.

Hebrew punctuation is as complicated as ours and more difficult to write. They in fact have their own keyboard with their own letters and punctuation.

Sometimes it has Arabic letters and symbols as well due to the high percentage of Arab speakers in Israel.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean didn’t originally have punctuation as their language(s) are made up of symbols rather than letters.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Punctuation Puzzle

I remember my Father testing me on this one.

Insert the comma(s) in the correct place.

The teacher said that that that that that boy used should have been which.

Where do the commas go?



[1]New World Encyclopedia. 22 Oct 2008, 15:24 UTC. 7 Oct 2011, 02:51 <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mesha_Stele?oldid=836298>




[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation#History

Parentheses ( Brackets)

Parentheses are also known as brackets. They come in different styles and for different reasons.
They can be half round ( ) or square [ ] or curly { } 


The intention of the bracket is to include additional information in the writing, but the piece of writing should stand alone and be correct and complete without the added information.
For example. I went to an exhibition (by Henry Maas) on Sunday at the Collingwood Gallery.


The above sentence was written by me. If the editor of this blog had added the parentheses he (or she) would have used square brackets indicating it was inserted by someone other than the writer. 
So it would be:
I went to an exhibition [by Henry Maas] on Sunday at the Collingwood Gallery.


They can be used together (if you want to include an aside [or even some detail like a date] or  superfluous information) if required.


They can definitely be overused. Here is an example:


According to the executive, "[The infinitite number of monkeys] are [creating an infinite number of blogs] each of which contain an infinite number of blogs, each of which contains [a randomly created] review, so that [the Google search engine] is fooled into thinking that it continually ['sees'] new blogs that reference [a given feature film] ." This way, those who have activated 'Google Alerts' for a specific film are sent multiple results multiple times each day, all of which lead to the same [illegal] download site. [1]






The multitude of brackets is distracting from the meaning of the text.


 Rewritten without the brackets it looks like this:


According to the executive, are each of which contains review, so that is  fooled into thinking that it continually new blogs that reference. This way those who have activated Google Alerts for a specific film are sent multiple results multiple times each day, all of which lead to the same download site.


The writers error here is that deleting what is within the brackets renderers the paragraph useless. At the same time, it at least is more attractive to the eye.


Curly brackets { } are not often used, but are sometimes used to denote a series of equal choices.
For example. Select your animal {Goat, Sheep, cow, pig}...


Curly brackets are most often used in mathematics. For example:


 
Please don't ask me what it means.                    [2]


There are other brackets. In computing <  and  > are common.

So to summarise:


Don't overuse brackets. They make a sentence look messy and they can be unattractive.


When you write a sentence that includes brackets, make sure it stands alone without the brackets.


Use round brackets ( ) to add extra information.


Use square brackets [ ] to add extra information from an outside source.


Use curly brackets { } to indicate equal choice.




1. Isn't Life Terrible: Infinite Number of Monkeys at Typewriter Finally Give up on Hamlet: Now Working on Reviews Of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" 4 Febuary 2009, viewed 5 October 2011http://030726d.netsolhost.com/WordPress/?tag=overuse-of-brackets>


2. Bracket: Wikipedia the free Encyclopaedia, viewed 5 October 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracket>

The Hoax and The Hyphen

In 1918 William Strunk and E.B.White wrote the first edition of an American style-guide called 'The Elements of Style. The book concentrated on questions of usage and cultivation of style in good writing.
It included, amongst other areas, 11 rules for punctuation and grammar. It has been updated and re-published many times, the latest being in 2005.


In 1999, a journalist for the Washington Post Bob Hirshfield, who was heartily sick of poor spelling and grammar, wrote an article about a new computer virus called the Strunkenwhite Virus. 
This virus was 'more dangerous than the Chernobyl threat'. Apparently the virus refused to deliver emails with grammatical errors. It would apparently shut down the computer that sent the email and take hours to restart. He quoted the FBI who (via the telephone because he was too scared to use his computer email system) stated this insidious virus was 'a threat too freedom and Western Society, blah, blah, blah.'


The article was of course a hoax, but the sales of 'The Elements of Style' increased dramatically at the time.


                              -----------------The Hyphen------------


The Hyphen is a little discussed punctuation mark that is very useful and requires some discussion even though its usage seems to be declining.


It was invented by Guttenberg when he was devising his movable type. In short, if a word was not completed by the end of a line he included a hyphen to indicate the word was unfinished and cont- 
ued on the next line. Clever eh! 


Now it is used to change the meaning of a word but needs to be used carefully.


Consider extra-marital sex and extra marital sex.
Or man-eating shark to man eating shark.
Or re-formed rock band to reformed rock band.


It is also nessesary use it to spell out numbers (Thirty-six, twenty-four, thirty-six)  and to link proper nouns (Melbourne-Albury train, Frankston-Dandenong Road)

Another use is to avoid 'letter collision.'
Consider shell-like if it was written as shelllike or re-use as reuse.


The Germans could do with a few hyphens in their language.
They seem to take pleasure of taking two or three words and jamming them together.
To us English speakers some words are long and unweildly and we need to look hard at it to decipher and pronounce it.


Volkswagen means peoples wagon or car. 
The infamous Kristallnacht means literally the night of broken glass.
Dummkopf means numb head.
Doppelganger is double-goer meaning your exact double.
Schadenfreude means pleasure derived from the pain of others.



Thank Guttenberg for the hyphen, but I wish he could have encouraged his fellow Germans to put it to more use.



.[1] Truss,L. 2009 Eats, Roots and Leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation,  Profile, London