the zero tolerance approach to punctuation

Climb ladders at dead of night with a pot of paint to remove the redundant apostrophe in 'Video's sold here'. Why? Because people who can't punctuate don't read those books! Of course they don't! They laugh at books like those! Eats, Shoots and Leaves adopts a more militant approach and attempts to recruit an army of punctuation vigilantes: send letters back with the punctuation corrected. These books do their job but somehow punctuation abuse does not diminish. Competition rules remind us: 'The judges decision is final.' Now, many punctuation guides already exist explaining the principles of the apostrophe the comma the semi-colon. Eats, shoots and leaves.' We see signs in shops every day for 'Banana's' and even 'Gateaux's'. 'Large black and white mammal native to China. 'Panda,' ran the entry for his assailant. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. And sure enough, when the waiter consulted the book, he found an explanation. The panda shrugged, tossed him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walked out. He ordered a sandwich, ate it, then pulled out a gun and shot the waiter. Not a primer but a 'zero tolerance' manual for direct action.

'Truss’s scholarship is impressive and never dry.A witty, entertaining, impassioned guide to perfect punctuation, for everyone who cares about precise writing. 'If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I’d nominate her for sainthood.' 'Lynne Truss makes a joy to contemplate.' It’s the perfect gift for anyone who cares about grammar and a gentle introduction for those who don’t care enough.' 'This book changed my life in small, perfect ways like learning how to make better coffee or fold an omelet. 'Lynne Truss has done the English-speaking world a huge service.'

'Truss is William Safire crossed with John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty.' Truss is an entertaining, well-read scold in a culture that could use more scolding.' Another writer tells us that punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language: they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop.' (p. Some grammarians use the analogy of stitching: punctuation as the basting that holds the fabric of language in shape.

Eats, shoots & leaves: The zero tolerance approach to punctuation. The author writes, 'Punctuation has been defined many ways. LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW, BEST BOOKS OF 2004: NONFICTION printable-punctuation-guide 1/3 Downloaded from. Praise for Lynne Truss and Eats, Shoots & Leaves:Įats, Shoots & Leaves 'makes correct usage so cool that you have to admire Ms.