My name is Ronnie D.

"

White space, I would argue, should be considered a form of punctuation, partly because other traditional marks of punctuation work have been designed to create it. Let’s take, for example, borscht belt comedian Henny Youngman’s most famous joke, which I found punctuated four different ways online:

1. Take my wife, please.
2. Take my wife … please.
3. Take my wife. Please.
4. Take my wife — please.

If the secret of humor is timing, then the secret of timing on the page is punctuation. In this case, my preference is #4. The comma offers the least separation between the premise and the punch line. The ellipsis is too airy. The period separates elements of a complete thought, turning what should be one sentence into two. But the dash manages to both connect and separate the elements. Notice that part of that separation is the creation of white space between “wife” and “please.”

"

Roy Peter Clark :: On National Punctuation Day, Let’s Celebrate White Space : Poynter Online

via sasquatchmedia

(via opalandtheidiot)

Oh how I love this sort of talk.

Maybe I do need to go back for my doctorate…

Arg.

Sep 25, 2010 @ 5:25 pm

post tags: linguistics language grammar syntax awesome arg