Sunday, April 17, 2011

Alphanumeric Blog Hop

I thought I was too late to sign up for it because I was a couple days behind on reading Mel’s blog, but then she contacted me and asked if I could do a post about punctuation.

Punctuation?

Yes. Punctuation.

or perhaps I mean:

Yes…punctuation.

The first response is clear cut. Yes. It is about punctuation.

The second is slightly less certain.  Yeeessss. I suppose it is about punctuation, of all things. It’s kinda rambly & disjointed but still, you must admit punctuation is the focus.

Punctuation is very important when communicating on line – we have no sarcasm font or snarky response font – so punctuation helps fill in the gap.

At least for me.

I use ellipses … all the time. Sometimes they mean “and yes, here is the punch line” or “here is the sarcastic bit”.

Usually they just express a general dubiousness about the whole thing, such as in my example, which is in line with their accepted use to suggest faltering or fragmented speech accompanied by confusion, insecurity, distress, or uncertainty. But that definition implies there are no words after the ellipsis…which never happens to me.

I don’t generally bother with their more common accepted use of symbolizing left out parts of quotations. I don’t quote much.

I’m also very fond of parentheses. (I bury all my snarky and wildly tangential comments in them) and then make them small so you can skip them if you want. I also use them correctly to mark off an interjected explanatory or qualifying remark.

But there isn’t much fun in that.

I also like dashes – but hardly ever use them. Dashes, correctly, should be used for confident & decisive pauses.

I’m rarely that confident about things and cannot think of a time I ever paused decisively about anything.

If you have made the decision, what is there to pause about?

Basically my use of dashes is limited to a single sentence:

My nemesis – the SCISSORS!

Which isn’t even an actual sentences because there is no verb, but is correctly using the dash because I am both confident and decisive that the scissors are my nemesis.

(Sr Joan, my high school English teacher would write – in big bold red letters - YES but WHAT ABOUT the scissors???? - if this were an essay. Of course if this were an actual essay there would be longer paragraphs. And she’d write – RAMBLING – in big red letters about halfway through. Lots of my high school essays had the word RAMBLING written on them. Big surprise I’m sure.)

There is a punctuation mark I think the language could use but is missing.

The language needs something to replace the ?!?! combination that expresses incredulity & surprise.

It could also do with some umlauts & accents.

English letters are kinda dull.

12-9-english

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If you are following the hop, you came here from Handmade By Kirsty, and the next stop from here is Heather's Scraps.

In case you have just joined us, here is the whole list of everyone participating in the hop.

I Speak Melsh: http://ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com/
BE Glorious: http://beglorious.blogspot.com/
Captured On Film: http://mrsbeee.blogspot.com/
Chatty Crafty Arty Pig: http://chattycraftyartypig.blogspot.com/
Creating Room: http://creatingroom.blogspot.com/
Curiouser and Curiouser: http://journalofcuriousthings.blogspot.com/
Daily Life - Bits and Pieces: http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com/
Deb's World: http://www.melissagross.blogspot.com/
Den's Crafty Diary: http://deecie.blogspot.com/
From High In The Sky: http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com/
Gallo Organico: http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/
Ginger's Life Of Spice: http://gingerslifeofspice.blogspot.com/
Handmade By Kirsty: http://handmadebykirsty.blogspot.com/
Havoc and Mayhem: http://www.havocandmayhem.com/
Heather's Scraps: http://heathers-scraps.blogspot.com/
Helena's Creative Maven: http://helenascreativemaven.blogspot.com/
Holaday's Happy Hearts: http://holadayshappyhearts.blogspot.com/
Jeant-Jinnag: http://jeant-jinnag.blogspot.com/
Just Jimjams: http://just-jimjams.blogspot.com/
K's Crafty Corner: http://kscraftycorner.blogspot.com/
Life...As I See It: http://jillconyers.blogspot.com/
{Life Behind The Purple Door}: http://www.lifebehindthepurpledoor.com/
Lisa E Design Blog: http://lisae-design.blogspot.com/
Living Life One Blessing At A Time: http://livinglifeoneblessingatatime.blogspot.com/
Mary's Musings: http://craftycreation.blogspot.com/
Michelle Loves...: http://michellelovesallsorts.blogspot.com/
Obstinate Pursuit: http://obstinatepursuit.blogspot.com/
Over At Our Place: http://overatourplace.blogspot.com/
Paper Turtle: http://paperturtle.blogspot.com/
Peonies and Pennies: http://peoniesandpennies.blogspot.com/
Random Reflections: http://www.kbwalker.blogs.com/
Rosalind Revival: http://rosalindrevival.blogspot.com/
Scrap Dreams: http://cheriandrews.blogspot.com/
Scrappyjacky: http://scrappyjackylive.blogspot.com/
Scrapworthy Lives: http://www.scrapworthylives.com/
Staring At The Sea: http://fiona-staringatthesea.blogspot.com/
Surefiredaisy Says: http://surefiredaisysays.blogspot.com/
This Kalil Life: http://www.kimberlykalil.com/
This Little Life Of Mine: http://tracyscraftycorner.blogspot.com/
Xnomads' Blog: http://xnomads.typepad.com/blog/


Note: If any of the posts aren't up yet, please bear with us - the different time zones and the peculiarity of blogging platforms when it comes to autoposts may mean that one or two posts don't appear on time! If that's the case, come back to this list to pick up from the next blog, but do please pop back and try the other link later, when the post should be there for your enjoyment.

37 comments:

humel said...

Rambling? Surely not.... ;-) Thanks Stacey, I knew you'd come up trumps - great post, perfectly punctuated! xx

Helena said...

I'm quaking at the idea of my old English teacher marking my blogs !!

Karen said...

What a fun post! Loved it.

Debs said...

Brillaint post - I would have really struggled if I had been given that one! But yours is great and I so agree that we need something new to replace ?!?! - any suggestions?

Mary B said...

:D I love the way you can use punctuations to draw with.
I love to read about your Red Ramblings
I love punctuations full stop.
but you didn't mention my most favourite one the apostrophe

robbieandmelissa said...

Very interesting reading on punctuation!

robbieandmelissa said...

Very interesting post on punctuation!

Furrypig said...

love the image you created about more interesting characters! I use far too many exclamation points!!!

Jen x said...

Oh I use far too many !! on my posts - or --- LOL though absolutely loved your post!

Ginger said...

I would never have passed English in any form if marks were based on my blog posts :) I have enjoyed your post on punctuation, and Mel chose well having you do it!

Miriam Rogers said...

Wonderful post! I am in total agreement with the need for umlauts and accents, and am seriously impressed with your perfect punctuation. I hope smileys are in order 'cause here is one for you :)

Angelfish said...

What a clever post! I hope nobody will be marking me on blog punctuation!?!?
Fiona x

Carol Anne Wall said...

What a fun post! I lectured on ellipses in my writing class on Tuesday. I wish I had had your post then. May have to reference it for future classes.

Rachel B said...

Brilliant post - just brilliant! (is that right?) lol :)

Jill conyers said...

I truly enjoyed reading your take on punctuation. I have this weird obsession for grammar, punctuation, spelling etc. My preference is for them to be used correctly LOL

I've always thought we need something to represent the ?!?!? combination.

Sianfair said...

My name is Welsh and has a circumflex over the a. I use it when I'm writing, but not when I'm computing. Interesting post Stacey :)

Tracyg said...

Lol, this really made me laugh. Great post.

N Stevenson said...

OOh, that was a surprise, coming across a punctuation post, wasn't expecting that. Love the poster, great idea. I am another one that loves my exclamation marks.

Cheri Andrews said...

I totally had to laugh at the poster you created. It's perfect!

Jacky S said...

It certainly made me smile.

Beverly said...

Brilliant post, I would have cried if I had been assigned punctuation, Mel definitely knew who to get to do it :)

Alison said...

I use ellipses and exclamation marks......far too often!!
Alison xx

Sandi Robinson said...

Love this!! I'm not sure if my punctuation would pass muster with an exam board these days, but I do make full use of all those marvellous marks!!!! ((Hugs)) Sandi :)

Clare Woodward said...

What a great post, made interesting reading. ~c~

Jimjams said...

¡ʇɐɥʇ ǝsn s,ʇǝן - pǝsnɹǝpun ɹǝɥʇɐɹ sı ɐpןıʇ ǝɥʇ ˙˙˙ ɟɟnʇs ʍǝu ǝɯos ƃuıppɐ ɟo ɐǝpı ǝɥʇ ǝʞıן ¡pǝsnqɐ uǝʇɟo puɐ ƃuıʞɔɐן ʎןpɐs ʇǝʎ ʇuɐʇɹodɯı ʎɹǝʌ - uoıʇɐnʇɔund ǝɥʇ uo noʎ ɥʇıʍ ɯ,ı

Michelle said...

Lol! Cool post :)

Clair said...

Excellent post - loving the theme almost as much as I love hyphens. Can't write a single thing without them!

Amy said...

I would never let my English teacher read my blog - she would not be impressed at all!

Rinda1961 said...

Oh, you were such the perfect person for punctuation!
Rinda

Carrie Rosalind said...

I would never have been able to think about what to write about punctuation, but you pulled it off! :) cute post! :)

Margie S said...

Beautiful post. I'd be lost if I had to make punctuation fun! The way we write in email and on blogs, etc., etc., would make all our English teachers scream with rage, don't you think? I use dashes a lot and almost always incorrectly. I never knew they were meant to be used for decisive pauses. I just learned something new OR rediscovered something I didn't know I once new!

SciFi Dad said...

You neglected to discuss a staple of the blogging community: the three. period. sentence.

Lynn May said...

Great post - I use far too many of these ! -

Jo Burton said...

Brilliant post. But please don't look too closely at my blog for errors as there will be plenty. But do not dispair as I know the grammar and punctuation police are out there!

Andrea @ The Creative Junkie said...

I tend to be a little comma happy. When in doubt, I stick in a comma. And I also use dashes all the time - probably incorrectly but I'm past the point of caring too much about it.

Rachel said...

Brilliant!

Denise said...

I love this post, you really made me smile as I was reading it and I LOVE the word snarky! I shall be using it from now on! Just catching up as I have been away since the hop :-)