Punctuation is essential for writing but it does not always get the attention that it deserves. Punctuation marks are the traffic signs that guide a reader through a text, ensuring that it can be easily understood; it follows that a writer who uses punctuation correctly will produce a text that is easier and more satisfying to read. Punctuation..? is a good look through the common (and some not so common) punctuation marks and how to use them properly. The book lists 21 symbols from the apostrophe to the semicolon. They are described well with brief but useful notes on how to use each one correctly.
The apostrophe is given the standard treatment for its positions in singular and plural possessive forms, not forgetting irregular plurals, with a note on its omission in company names such as Barclays Bank. Its use in verb contractions is also correctly described.
Hyphens, en dashes and em dashes are differentiated, ellipsis is explained, and we are told when and when not to use question marks. Quotation marks are presented succinctly together with a note on alternating single and double forms when they are nested. There are round and square brackets, and curly brackets or braces {}, which are not commonly used in punctuation though they have a place in mathematics. Forward slash and full stop are explained, with notes on the use of the full stop in contractions and acronyms. It is good to see the exclamation mark accepted as a marker of emotion in an utterance, though it would have been nice to see an example of a true exclamation: Good Heavens! Not on your life! Well done!
The comma is the most difficult mark to use and thus the hardest to describe; here we have its use in lists, to change a subject in a sentence, and as a parenthesis-marker (though no specific mention of its use in non-restrictive relative clauses). Colons and semicolons are clearly distinguished. The pilcrow ¶, though not a common symbol, has its entry with a brief history of its use.
Some non-English punctuation marks are included. There is the interpunct, which is used to separate Latin words and is found in Catalan col·legi for example. Guillemets, outward-pointing «» and inward-pointing »«, are related to the languages that use them and a place is found for the sloping mathematical prime symbols, which should be used for feet and inches, and for hours and seconds, rather than the straight quotation marks that are a legacy from typewriter days.
The line drawings on each page add greatly to the enjoyment of this book. How does one illustrate a book on punctuation? Allusively is the answer. If your example is of a prime used as a symbol for measuring in feet, you have an illustration of a builder measuring a window-frame. The use of aeroplane wings to illustrate the guillemets is a masterstroke.
This is a light book that is ideal for people who need to know how to use basic punctuation. It does not delve into the bottomless depths of punctuation or mention the often acrimonious disputes surrounding the greengrocer’s apostrophe, the semicolon or the Oxford comma. Nor should it do so; that is not its purpose. What it does, and does well, is provide an attractive, well-presented, amusing explanation of how basic punctuation should be used. It is a book that I would be happy to put in the hands of anyone, especially a young person, who is uncertain about semicolons, commas, quotation marks and the rest.
The book has no credit for author or illustrator, mentioning only the publisher, User Design. It is printed on good paper (160g/m2) with a 350g/m2 card cover, which gives it a solid feel in the hand. Although it is a stapled paperback, the printers have given it a flat spine so that its name shows when it is on a bookshelf.
Note: I received one review copy of Punctuation..? I have no connection, personal, commercial or financial, with User Design or with the people who work for it.
The images in this post were provided by the publisher and are used with permission.
Punctuation..?
User design
2nd edition, 2012
ISBN 13: 978-0-9570712-2-3
36 pages
£10 (EUR 11.66, USD 15.43)
http://www.userdesignillustrationandtypesetting.com/books/punctuation/index.html
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