The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning. — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
Punctuation is a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling. — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“Oh yes, sir. There's no doubt about it, sir. The Punctuation Murderer has struck again.” — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“The American writer Donald Barthelme wrote that the semicolon is “ugly, ugly as a tick on a dog’s belly”.” — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
Punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language: they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop. — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“Joseph Robertson wrote in an essay on punctuation in 1785, “The art of punctuation is of infinite consequence in writing; as it… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
What the semicolon's anxious supporters fret about is the tendency of contemporary writers to use a dash instead of a semicolon and… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“No matter that you have a PhD and have read all of Henry James twice. If you still persist in writing, "Good… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“What the semicolon’s anxious supporters fret about is the tendency of contemporary writers to use a dash instead of a semicolon and… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“On the page, punctuation performs its grammatical function, but in the mind of the reader it does more than that. It tells… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
Truly good manners are invisible: they ease the way for others, without drawing attention to themselves. It is no accident that the… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
To some people, the fact that I am not married, or don't have children, would be the reason I have written a… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“you know those self-help books that give you permission to love yourself? This one gives you permission to love punctuation.” — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
As someone who sends texts messages more or less non-stop, I enjoy one particular aspect of texting more than anything else: that… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
I mean, full stops are quite important, aren't they? Yet by contrast to the versatile apostrophe, they are stolid little chaps, to… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“If this satanic sprinkling of redundant apostrophes causes no little gasp of horror or quickening of the pulse, you should probably put… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“I apologise if you all know this, but the point is many, many people do not. Why else would they open a… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
We have a language that is full of ambiguities; we have a way of expressing ourselves that is often complex and elusive,… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
In the family of punctuation, where the full stop is daddy and the comma is mummy, and the semicolon quietly practises the… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
It should come as no surprise that writers take an interest in punctuation. I have been told that the dying words of… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
Thurber was asked by a correspondent: "Why did you have a comma in the sentence, 'After dinner, the men went into the… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
Well, start waving and yelling, because it is the so-called Oxford comma and it is a lot more dangerous than its exclusive,… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“Yes, you can see the bullet points here, here and here, sir; there are multiple back-slashes, of course. And that’s a forward… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“Part of one's despair, of course, is that the world cares nothing for the little shocks endured by the sensitive stickler. While… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“the American essayist Lewis Thomas on the semicolon: The semicolon tells you that there is still some question about the preceding full… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
The rule is: the word 'it's' (with apostrophe) stands for 'it is' or 'it has'. If the word does not stand for… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“Clicking on "send" has its limitations as a system of subtle communication. Which is why, of course, people use so many dashes… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“Cruelty to punctuation is quite unlegislated: you can get away with pulling the legs off semicolons; shrivelling question marks on the garden… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“If there is one lesson to be learned from this book, it is that there is never a dull moment in the… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
I recently heard of someone studying the ellipsis (or three dots) for a PhD. And, I have to say, I was horrified.… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
The reason it's worth standing up for punctuation is not that it's an arbitrary system of notation known only to an over-sensitive… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
“I have been told that the dying words of one famous 20th-century writer were, “I should have used fewer semicolons” – and… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
To those who care about punctuation, a sentence such as "Thank God its Friday" (without the apostrophe) rouses feelings not only of… — Lynne Truss Copy Share Image
Punctuation marks are the traffic signals of language: they tell us to slow down, notice this, take a detour, and stop. — Lynne Truss Copy Share
Evidently an A level in English is a sacred trust, like something out of "The Lord of the Rings". You must go forth with… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
Texting is a supremely secretive medium of communication - it's like passing a note - and this means we should be very careful what… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
“Part of one's despair, of course, is that the world cares nothing for the little shocks endured by the sensitive stickler. While we look… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
For any true stickler, you see, the sight of the plural word “Book’s” with an apostrophe in it will trigger a ghastly private emotional… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
Brackets come in various shapes, types and names: 1 round brackets (which we call brackets, and the Americans call parentheses) 2 square brackets [which… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
Texting is a fundamentally sneaky form of communication, which we should despise, but it is such a boon we don't care. We are all… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
My favorite thing in the world is a quiz show, 'University Challenge,' so you can see what kind of sad person I am. — Lynne Truss Copy Share
Punctuation is a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling. — Lynne Truss Copy Share
“one might dare to say that while the full stop is the lumpen male of the punctuation world (do one job at a time;… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
The main advantage of working at home is that you get to find out what cats really do all day. — Lynne Truss Copy Share
“For the first time since she met him, she asked herself whether mr Dodgson was really the sunny personality she had at first imagined.… — Lynne Truss Copy Share
“All the important roles shortly boiled down to one: remember your with other people; show some consideration.” — Lynne Truss Copy Share
![“the American essayist Lewis Thomas on the semicolon: The semicolon tells you that there is still some question about the preceding full sentence; something needs to be added [ . . .] The period [or full stop] tells you that that is that; if you didn’t get all the meaning you wanted or expected…” quote by Lynne Truss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b9/lynne-truss-4153_punctuation_the-american-essayist-lewis-thomas-on-th_2003613.png)
