I just finished reading the fantastic book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach To Punctuation" by Lynne Truss. It's a great book about the uses and abuses of punctuation in modern life. It's one of the most absolutely hilarious books I've read in some time. Granted, I think that the level of humour inherent in the book depends entirely on how much you can relate to the horror felt by the author at such gems as "BOOK'S FOR SALE", "I LIKE, TO DANCE" and other lovely examples of disgusting punctuation.
I've already ordered two copies to give away for Christmas presents to the sticklers in my family. Well, maybe I'll just give one copy away and keep the other for myself.
Fantastic book though. Absolutely fantastic. Of course, I'm now even more paranoid about whether each of these lovingly handcrafted posts is gramatically correct or not. Sigh...
And here's the joke that gives the book its title, just in case you haven't heard it.
'A panda walks into a cafe. 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 toward 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.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
So, punctuation really does matter, even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death.'
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