Friday, March 21, 2008

Zero Punctuation

The English language is a complex beast. One false move and you've completely misrepresented your meaning.

Would you apply for the following position? "Wanted - person to wash dishes and two waiters". I guess it depends how good looking the waiters are!

Would you let this firm mow your lawn? "Don't let lawn mowing kill you - let us do it for you."

How quickly a Board Secretary can become a Bored Secretary.

And who hasn't struggled with a sentence like, "Over there is where they're going to build their campfire".

I'm certainly no expert in the field - I was at University before I learnt the difference between its and it's - but now that I am well on the way to mending my own mediocre spelling and punctuation efforts (well maybe not spelling), I find I notice the errors of others much more readily.

One can never be too quick, however, to cast nasturtiums. For it is from mediocrity that greatness is often born.

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, a game reviewer for "The Escapist", uses a complete lack of punctuation to great effect. You can check out his reviews at (infrequent course language warning):

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation

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