[Lexicog] Punctuation Soup

[bolstar1]

It's been said that variety is the spice of life. Can the same be true of the use of 
punctuation? I've always liked norms in things, with deviations being used only for varying 
creative, varying taste, or varying purposes. The following is an example of the `personal 
taste' principle. Five editorial variations of a passage by Shakespeare by five editors of 
Shakespeare are listed -- Cambridge, Oxford, Riverside, Signet, Shakespeare-online.com. There 
is little to no difference in meaning between the five versions.

Hamlet 2.2.311-16 (Signet version) "What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how 
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an 
angel, in apprehension how like a god: the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals; and 
yet to me, what is this quintessence of dust?"
               
WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS A MAN... 
(CAMBRIDGE & SPARKNOTES.COM)  What a piece of work is a man!  (sentence-ending `!')
(SHAKESPEARE-ONLINE.COM)  What a piece of work is a man!  (continuing `!') 
(SIGNET, RIVERSIDE, & OXFORD  (continuing `,')    


...THE PARAGON OF ANIMALS 
CAMBRIDGE  the paragon of animals --  (continuing  --) 
SIGNET & RIVERSIDE  the paragon of animals;  (continuing ;)
OXFORD & SHAKESPEARE-ONLINE.COM  the paragon of animals!  (ending !)
SPARKNOTES.COM  the paragon of animals.  (ending .)
 

On the other hand, improper punctuation can have weird, if not expensive, results. In the 
1890's a legislative clerk, while transcribing a new law, was supposed to write "All foreign 
fruit-plants are free from duty." But he changed they hyphen to a comma and wrote: "All 
foreign fruit, plants are free from duty". Before Congress could amend the error, the U.S. 
government had lost more than $2,000,000 in duties. 

Scott Nelson 




------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:lexicographylist-digest at yahoogroups.com 
    mailto:lexicographylist-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/