Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation - Lynne Truss

I wouldn’t say I’m a stickler for punctuation as such; a misplaced apostrophe doesn’t send me into a rage or give me an irrational urge to spread Tipp-ex over a shop sign, but it is the kind of thing I’m likely to notice and sigh about before moving on. I may not be a militant pedant, but I am a pedant just the same. So it was really only a matter of time before I ended up reading Lynne Truss’ “Eats, Shoots and Leaves”, if only to see what all the fuss was about. I was also curious to see if I was doing things correctly myself; being educated at a Grammar School is no guarantee of perfect grammar. Even less so these days, it seems. Truss starts ...

It’s an assuming looking thing. At only 7.5” x 5” and 210 pages, it is hardly the six-foot model of the book world. In fact, it would probably fail to meet the minimum height requirement to be an air hostess. But, as we know, good things often come in small packages and this little gem proves that point perfectly. If I told people I had just read a book on punctuation, I wonder what their response would be. Many might believe it was a text book, some kind of Eng Lang thing that had to be read for an exam. Certainly, twenty-five years ago, I would probably have been shocked at my future grown up self for using my leisure time to read a book like this one. ...

Firstly, I must admit I am something of a stickler for correct grammar and punctuation. I wouldn't describe myself as a pedant, but I squirm at the sight of the grocer's apostrophe or - my particular bugbear - the use of quotation marks for emphasis. I saw good example of this at Edinburgh Zoo a few years ago: Strictly "NO" PARKING here (I have left quotation marks out of that quotation for obvious reasons.) Anyway, I photographed that particular punctuation pecadillo and sent it to my local paper, and, when I went back to the zoo again, the offending sign was gone. And, I must admit, I rather missed ...