Like many of my generation I received only a cursory education in the mechanics of grammar. In Primary School we watched The Magic Bag and learnt that the letter h began with an a and that often had a silent t. But that’s about it. In High School a frustrated English teacher vented her annoyance at our collective ignorance. Those who spelled a lot as one word were the particular target of her wrath.
Grammar, language and punctuation have an astonishing ability to arouse extreme passions. Frequently anger. But it’s not only English teachers and subeditors enraged by linguistic clumsiness. Lynne Truss’s book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves – subtitled The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation – has found a large and sympathetic audience. Her articulate (and witty) diatribe against the misuse of punctuation is zealously argued; and has been an international bestseller.
Thousands of readers have concurred with Lynne Truss: grammar and language are fascinating and important matters. While conceding at the start that her book may only appeal to the sticklers and pedants in society, she is adamant that correct punctuation is fundamental to communication – for all.
She cites a range of examples where the sense of an expression or sentence is considerably altered by the misplacement of commas and full stops. Some of her argument is based on historical incidents: it even extends to matters of theology.
Quoting a 19th Century grammar text, she reflects on the various interpretations of Jesus’ promise to the thief hanging on the cross next to his. Ignoring the fact that the original text would have been devoid of punctuation, the placement of a comma changes whether the thief will join the Lord in paradise today or whether today simply refers to the day upon which Jesus makes the promise.
It is hardly an issue of much magnitude; however, Truss reasons that the comma placement (and the meaning it implies) informs the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory.
Giving a brief history of English punctuation, Eats, Shoots and Leaves is also a handy explanation – for the ill-informed like me – about such elusive marks as colons and semi-colons.
While lacking some of the punch and depth of Don Watson’s Death Sentence, Truss’s book is a compulsive if whimsical read.
