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Eats, Shoots & Leaves

The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

By Lynne Truss

(133)

| Paperback | 9781861976772

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Book Description

Everyone knows the basics of punctuation, surely? Aren't we all taught at school how to use full stops, commas and question marks? And yet we see ignorance and indifference everywhere. "Its Summer!" says a sign that cries out for an apostrophe. "ANTIQUE,S," says another, bizarrely. "Pansy's ready", Continue

Everyone knows the basics of punctuation, surely? Aren't we all taught at school how to use full stops, commas and question marks? And yet we see ignorance and indifference everywhere. "Its Summer!" says a sign that cries out for an apostrophe. "ANTIQUE,S," says another, bizarrely. "Pansy's ready", we learn to our considerable interest ("Is she?"), as we browse among the bedding plants.

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss dares to say that, with our system of punctuation patently endangered, it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them for the wonderful and necessary things they are. If there are only pedants left who care, then so be it. "Sticklers unite" is her rallying cry. "You have nothing to lose but your sense of proportion--and arguably you didn't have much of that to begin with."

This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset about it. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to Sir Roger Casement "hanged on a comma"; from George Orwell shunning the semicolon to Peter Cook saying Nevile Shute's three dots made him feel all funny", this book makes a powerful case for the preservation of a system of printing conventions that is much too subtle to be mucked about with.

Critics

  • Eats, Shoots & Leaves By Lynne Truss

    British author Lynne Truss is a self-described "stickler," a nut about punctuation who can't rest easy when she sees mistakes on street signs, newspaper headlines or billboards. ("Within seconds, shock gives way to disbelief, disbelief to pain, and p ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Thu, 16 Sep 2010

  • Bookreporter.com - EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES by Lynne Truss

    EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation Lynne Truss Gotham Books Reference ISBN: 1592400876 "Is there a hyphen in anal retentive?" — Author Unknown Lynne Truss told a British interviewer that she had written this book for "p ... (read full critics)

    bookreporter published on Mon, 30 Aug 2010

9 Reviews

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  • 1 person find this helpful

    So unimaginable that punctuation can make up such a long book. The author had carried out extensive research on this topic and there were loads of reference in it.

    The analogies and jokes on punctuation did bring about a lot of fun,

    and yet the vocabularies were a bit too much for me!

    P ... (continue)

    So unimaginable that punctuation can make up such a long book. The author had carried out extensive research on this topic and there were loads of reference in it.

    The analogies and jokes on punctuation did bring about a lot of fun,

    and yet the vocabularies were a bit too much for me!

    Punctuation marks are somewhat useful and essential: they either do with the syntax or notate the music of the spoken language.

    　

    "Punctuate the following puzzler: Charles the First walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off"

    "The Law of Conservation of Apostrophes: For every apostrophe omitted from an it's, there is an extra one put into an its"

    ------------------------------------------------------------------
    Apostrophe
    1. indicate a possessive on a singular noun
    2. indicate time or quantity
    3. indicate the omission of figures in dates
    4. indicate the omission of letters
    5. indicate strange, non-standard English
    6. feature in Irish names such as O'Neil
    7. indicate the plural of letters eg. f's
    8. indicate plurals of words eg. do's

    Comma
    1. for lists
    2. for joining
    3. for filling gaps eg Annie had dark hair; Sally, fair
    4. before direct speech
    5. setting off interjection
    6. commas that come in pairs

    Bracket
    to add information, to clarify, to explain, to illustrate

    　
    Square bracket
    1. an editor's way of clarifying the meaning of a direct quote without actually changing any of the words
    2. used around the word sic eg "please send a copy of The Time's [sic]", he wrote.

    Ellipsis
    1. indicate words missing
    2. trail off in an intriguing manner
    　

    Hyphen
    1. avoid ambiguities eg re-mark
    2. spelling outnumbers
    3. linking nouns with nouns
    4. noun phrase to qualify another noun eg stainless-steel kitchen
    5. certain prefixes
    6. to spell out words
    7. avoid unpleasant linguistic condition eg deice (de-ice)
    8. indicate a word is unfinished and continues on the next line
    9. hesitation and stammering

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    Candy said on Jan 17, 2012 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    I have the seventh sense

    Funny! I am one of these people who have a horrible compulsion to edit typos and punctuation and it's actually a relief to hear someone write about it. I am not alone. And wait, I DO have a life, and I HAVE relaxed about correcting people ... lest they get offended.

    I did have a few issues with the ... (continue)

    Funny! I am one of these people who have a horrible compulsion to edit typos and punctuation and it's actually a relief to hear someone write about it. I am not alone. And wait, I DO have a life, and I HAVE relaxed about correcting people ... lest they get offended.

    I did have a few issues with the book. One, it is written for a British audience, and many punctuation rules and examples are British, of course. If you're used to American conventions, the rules may seem "wrong" to you. Two, after reading one chapter on one specific punctuation mark, say the comma, you can get a little fatigued with example after example. So best read this in several sittings.

    This isn't a book for everyone. Don't bother with it if ...
    ... you're one of those people where bad grammar and punctuation (wrong or lack of) just don't grate on your nerves, DON'T bother with this book. It will seem like a mountain was made out of a molehill.
    ... you're NOT interested in proper punctuation. At the least, one needs to keep an open mind.

    I think this book would make a great addition to my Strunk and White. Or maybe they should make an Americanized version?

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    guiltlessreader aka screamingbanshee said on Dec 13, 2009 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    I'm not quite sure what this says about me, but I found this book about punctuation rather amusing and enjoyable. I think you have to be what I've affectionately heard called a "grammar guru" to appreciate this book: someone who routinely finds (and gets frustrated) with punctuation, spelling, and ... (continue)

    I'm not quite sure what this says about me, but I found this book about punctuation rather amusing and enjoyable. I think you have to be what I've affectionately heard called a "grammar guru" to appreciate this book: someone who routinely finds (and gets frustrated) with punctuation, spelling, and grammar errors in books, letters, and Internet posts. If you're thinking "Hey, I resemble that remark!", then this book is for you. Or if you're just curious about the proper uses of the semi-colon, then you might find this book helpful. It's worth noting that the author, and content, are British, but as an American, I had no trouble following along; in fact, I felt that it added color (or colour) to the book. Be forewarned, though: you may find yourself paying a lot more attention to the punctuation you use, after reading this book.

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    Bashful said on Nov 11, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • Dimostrazione che un libro sulla punteggiatura può diventare un best-seller

    Semplicemente geniale. Su tutto, il capitolo iniziale sull'apostrofo e il genitivo sassone. Il genere di libro di cui ti parla anche la cassiera della mega-libreria dove l'ho comprato, dicendomi: "Non capita tutti i giorni che un manuale di punteggiatura diventi un best-seller. Un libro fantastico." ... (continue)

    Semplicemente geniale. Su tutto, il capitolo iniziale sull'apostrofo e il genitivo sassone. Il genere di libro di cui ti parla anche la cassiera della mega-libreria dove l'ho comprato, dicendomi: "Non capita tutti i giorni che un manuale di punteggiatura diventi un best-seller. Un libro fantastico." E infatti. Lo consiglio a tutti gli anglofili e a chi studia inglese.

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    Caboto said on Jan 30, 2012 | Add your feedback

  • After being the only one who noticed apostrophes being put in the wrong places all the time, after asking everyone I could why, after being told there was nothing wrong (with the apostrophes, I mean, since there was probably something wrong with me)... after all of these things, I found this ... (continue)

    After being the only one who noticed apostrophes being put in the wrong places all the time, after asking everyone I could why, after being told there was nothing wrong (with the apostrophes, I mean, since there was probably something wrong with me)... after all of these things, I found this book. Ok, it's actually a book I have to study for an exam, but I've never ever enjoyed a school book as I'm enjoying this.
    It's funny, deliciously written and actually useful; and now I finally know there are some people who just can't write in their own language even in the USA and the UK.

    Is this helpful?

    l'aura said on May 1, 2011 | Add your feedback

  • I must confess I haven't finished this book yet, and I probably won't go on.
    I found it very funny and interesting at the beginning, since it carries some fundamental information about English language (e.g. the use of apostrophe for the plural form of acronyms). I particularly appreciated the descr ... (continue)

    I must confess I haven't finished this book yet, and I probably won't go on.
    I found it very funny and interesting at the beginning, since it carries some fundamental information about English language (e.g. the use of apostrophe for the plural form of acronyms). I particularly appreciated the description of a few common and not-so-common mistakes - there's an inner stickler inside me who particularly enjoys such things :P
    However, the book soon became extremely boring, with so many unhelpful references to history. I wonder, for example, how helpful such long references to Aldus Manutius may be to a reader who simply wants to find out more about English language.

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    Lilacwhisper said on Feb 25, 2011 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

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