The Accidental Apostrophe: ... And Other Misadventures in Punctuation

The Accidental Apostrophe: ... And Other Misadventures in Punctuation

by Caroline Taggart (Author)

Synopsis

Sunday Times bestselling author Caroline Taggart brings her usual gently humorous approach to punctuation, pointing out what really matters and what doesn't. In Roman times, blocks of text were commonly written just as blocks without even wordspacingnevermindpunctuation to help the reader to interpret them. Orators using such texts as notes for a speech would prepare carefully so that they were familiar with the content and didn't come a cropper over a confusion between, say, therapists and the rapists. As we entered the Christian era and sacred texts were widely read (by priests if not by the rest of us), it became ever more important to remove any likelihood of misinterpretation. To a potential murderer or adulterer, for example, there is a world of difference between 'If you are tempted, yield not, resisting the urge to commit a sin' and 'If you are tempted, yield, not resisting the urge to commit a sin'. And the only surface difference is the positioning of a comma. So yes, you SMS-addicts and 'let it all hang out' Sixties children, punctuation does matter. And, contrary to what people who tear their hair out over apostrophes believe, it is there to help - to clarify meaning, to convey emphasis, to indicate that you are asking a question or quoting someone else's words. It also comes in handy for telling your reader when to pause for breath. Caroline Taggart, who has made a name for herself expounding on the subjects of grammar, usage and words generally (and who for decades made her living putting in the commas in other people's work), takes her usual gently humorous approach to punctuation. She points out what matters and what doesn't; why using six exclamation marks where one will do is perfectly OK in a text but will lose you marks at school; why hang glider pilots in training really need a hyphen; and how throwing in the odd semicolon will impress your friends. Sometimes opinionated but never dogmatic, she is an ideal guide to the (perceived) minefield that is punctuation. By the same author: 9781843176572 My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?) 9781782432944 500 Words you Should Know

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 192
Publisher: Michael O'Mara
Published: 19 Oct 2017

ISBN 10: 1782438203
ISBN 13: 9781782438205
Book Overview: Sunday Times bestselling author Caroline Taggart brings her usual gently humorous approach to punctuation, pointing out what really matters and what doesn't.

Media Reviews
Explores the origins of common proverbs and sayings, examining whether they really do hold true. --Daily Mirror on An Apple a Day
This book aims to fill you in on the stuff you wish you'd been taught at school. --Times on A Classical Education
Beautifully produced . . . a lot of fun. --Tribune on My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?)
Author Bio
Caroline Taggart worked in publishing as an editor of popular non-fiction for thirty years before being asked by Michael O'Mara Books to write I Used to Know That, which became a Sunday Times bestseller. Following that she was co-author of My Grammar and I (or should that be 'Me'?), and wrote a number of other books about words and English usage. She has appeared frequently on television and on national and regional radio, talking about language, grammar and whether or not Druids Cross should have an apostrophe. Her website is carolinetaggart.co.uk and you can follow her on Twitter @citaggart.