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Cecily's Reviews > Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
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Truss' tongue-in-cheek style may not appeal to everyone and I don't agree with her about everything. In particular, "zero tolerance" makes punctuation an end in itself, rather than an aid to meaning, which seems back to front. It also makes no allowance for context and audience.
However, she gave punctuation and grammar a voice, and, however briefly, made people think about language, ambiguity and meaning, which is certainly good. Or it would be, if it didn't fuel the fire in the bellies of extreme prescriprivists.
A broader and more balanced book on this and related subjects is David Crystal's "The Fight for English How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left" (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...).
However, she gave punctuation and grammar a voice, and, however briefly, made people think about language, ambiguity and meaning, which is certainly good. Or it would be, if it didn't fuel the fire in the bellies of extreme prescriprivists.
A broader and more balanced book on this and related subjects is David Crystal's "The Fight for English How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left" (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...).
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
May 30, 2008
– Shelved
June 9, 2008
– Shelved as:
humour
June 9, 2008
– Shelved as:
language-related
Comments Showing 1-6 of 6 (6 new)
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Cecily
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rated it 3 stars
Nov 16, 2012 04:23AM
The Crystal one is excellent: not as a reference book, but as an enjoyable an educational eye-opener.
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Wait... shouldn't that be Truss's tongue-in-cheek style? Grrr. Now she has me questioning everything!
Whether or not to append an s to the possessive for names ending in s is generally treated as a stylistic preference, rather than strict grammar. ;)
'Tis a pity. Of course I was joking both before and now.
This book is hilarious - I think that the title is even a joke. I have owned two copies of this book and PEOPLE KEEP TAKING THEM!!!!
Jenn wrote: "This book is hilarious - I think that the title is even a joke."Yes, it is.
Jenn wrote: "I have owned two copies of this book and PEOPLE KEEP TAKING THEM!!!!"
Let's hope they learned something.
