Category Archives: punctuation
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Interrobangs, Pedantry, and Rascism
Leave a commentApril 23, 2022 by libroshombre
American writer H.L. Mencken’s word-smithing, the courage of his convictions, and his pioneering work on our version of English, …
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Saints, Milk, and Commas
Leave a commentMarch 18, 2019 by libroshombre
You want to keep your Saint Isidores straight when you’re talking about commas. Or is it “Saints Isidore”? Either way, …
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Drunk Persians, Political Correctness, and Deceptive Advertising
Leave a commentNovember 23, 2016 by libroshombre
Herodotus reported that the ancient Persians preferred getting drunk when deciding something important, and the next day, after sobering …
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Dashes, Dots, and Librarians
Leave a commentNovember 17, 2015 by libroshombre
The beginning of many aspects of the writing arts include librarians. Take Butehamen, the next-to-last chief scribe in ancient Egypt’s …
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Unfortunate Headlines, Strange Swords, and Blue-Backed Spellers
Leave a commentSeptember 26, 2015 by libroshombre
A friend recently gave me a delightful collection of “flubs from the nation’s press” titled “Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim.” …
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Torturous Aphibologies, Poor Webster, and Scrooge McDuck’s Taxes
Leave a commentFebruary 3, 2015 by libroshombre
Judging by our national debate over the subject, “torture” is one of those terms whose meaning seems to depend on …
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Bill Bryson, Double-spacing, and Rogue Apostrophes
Leave a commentJune 19, 2014 by libroshombre
Bill Bryson is among the best at putting words together informatively, expressively, and amusingly. His books, such as “Life and …
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