Happy National Punctuation Day! (September 24)

[Amy SF]

6 Common Punctuation Mistakes That Drive Us Crazy
The Huffington Post | By Shelley Emling Posted: 09/24/2013 7:54 am EDT | Updated: 09/24/2013 10:34 am EDT

Happy National Punctuation Day!

In honor of this very important holiday, we decided there's no better time to reveal our biggest pet peeves when it comes to society's lack of proper, well, punctuation.

We've covered the three common language mistakes that drive us nuts, and we've highlighted the four mispronunciations that put us over the edge. Now, with the help of our Facebook following, the misplaced semicolon doesn't stand a chance.

In addition to the items listed below, many readers expressed an overall frustration with the way many Americans write. "Spelling is not considered punctuation, but the improper use of their, there and they're drives me nuts," said Scott Guiher.

What punctuation faux pas make you feel like fingernails on a blackboard?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/national-punctuation-day_n_3976049.html?flv=1

As a medical transcriber, I've always been a little obsessed with the proper use of punctuation to the point of being driven crazy by it, and I have to remind myself that not everyone extensively works with language every day the way I do. At my last job, I transcribed for a radiologist who, I was told, hated commas and didn't want any in his medical reports unless he actually said "comma", and he rarely did. It made me a little crazy because there were natural pauses in his dictation and I'd automatically add a comma, and then when reviewing the report, I'd realize he didn't actually say "comma", and I'd go back and remove it. After a couple years of this, I decided it was silly to get stressed out over a punctuation mark and if I automatically added a comma, it was because it was grammatically required, and to hell with it. The world would not come to an end if a few of his reports went out with some extra commas in them. As long as the content of the reports made sense and was accurate, what's the big deal?

I also had an experience at the job I had before that, before electronic signature was instituted and the radiologists all hand-signed their reports; one radiologist would have a small fit if I left out a comma where he wanted one (if I thought the commas didn't belong grammatically.) He'd bring his reports back to me for retyping, with the commas put back in.

Doctors.

 

[Pirate]

My pet hate is those misplaced apostrophes (Like "A box of chocolate's" aaaaghh). We get important things sent round at work with those and it makes me want to find whoever proofread it and be violent.

Looking at that link I'm probably guilty of using too many exclamation marks. Probably every post I make has at least one! Oh look, there it is. But hey ho I'm just a bit enthusiastic

 

[Tom L.]

Happy punctuation day! I like punctuation; properly used, it makes things so much easier to read.