Sunday, March 18, 2012

Punctuation

Donna K. Weaver


Source
 So you're not sure punctuation is important?

Version 1
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?
Gloria

Version 2
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria


And the only difference is the punctuation.

***I wish I knew who to credit for this wonderful example to. I received it years ago in the body of an email. When I googled it, I got hits all over the place.***

What about you? Do you think punctuation has its place? Or are you one of the folks who'd like to get rid of it?

8 comments:

Sarah Tokeley said...

If you want me to understand what you're trying to say, use punctuation!

Joanne said...

My vote is for punctuation. Used properly, it's such a perfect tool to incorporate with our words.

farawayeyes said...

Love the examples. Believe me I know how important punctuation is, I'm just not sure where the commas go.

James C Duckett said...

Like farawayeyes, I struggle with the proper placement of commas. Sometimes I think I have too many, sometime I think I don't have enough. And, yes, punctuation is important. I like the other example I've seen floating around the Internet:

Let's eat Grandma.
Let's eat, Grandma.

Moral: punctuation saves lives.

Great post!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

James took the best example I've seen!

Kimberlee Turley said...

Seen this before too, and it's just as clever the second time.

James C Duckett said...

Found another example:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

A woman: without her, man is nothing.

Leigh Covington said...

Oh yes. I am a total punctuation person. I can't help myself. Hard to read something without the proper punctuation. I couldn't agree more.