Mark My Words
July 31, 2009
Call me a pedant (and many people do!), but if there's one thing I simply can’t
abide if I'm editing or marking a writer's work, it's carelessness in the use of
apostrophes. I may be old-fashioned – I still hold the door open for ladies – but
to me, if you can't be bothered getting this straightforward task correct, then
I suspect there will be a lot of other important punctuation and grammar rules broken
in your work.
I'm not sure if they bother teaching apostrophe placement in schools these days
because you don't have to look far to see public displays of apostrophe mayhem!
Recently I've come across Fruit and Vegetable's on a sign outside a grocer's shop,
Video's On Sale, and Its the Sale of the Year on a television commercial.
I've just mentioned why I think it's vitally important to get these things right
in your work but apart from that, a misplaced or missing punctuation mark can actually
change the meaning or sense of what you're trying to say. The classic example of
this is the title of Lynne Truss's excellent book on punctuation, 'Eats, Shoots
and Leaves'. Note that without the comma the meaning is quite different. So, a hunter
'eats, shoots and leaves' but a panda 'eats shoots and leaves'.
Apart from betraying a writer's slapdash approach to his work, poor punctuation
can potentially be even more costly than the mere embarrassment of seeing your mistakes
in print (assuming the sub-editor and editor are equally careless!). For example,
consider 'Lawyers who drink too much don't usually live long'. With a couple of
commas thrown in, 'Lawyers, who drink too much, don't usually live long', it is
even possibly actionable under libel laws.
These are far-fetched examples, of course, but they do emphasise the need for diligence
and care in your work. And this applies whether you're writing for a major daily
newspaper or an assignment for the Australian College of Journalism.
Your experienced tutors have their punctuation and grammar antennae on alert for
such errors. They will tell you: No excuses!
Happy writing!
Gary Smith
View tutor profile »
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