A Hong Kong friend forwarded to me an article from the Wall Street Journal that brings tears to my eyes. Well, not really, but anything to do with the demise of our usage of punctuation strikes close to the heart of a grammarian and self-described language freak like me.
Read what Herny Hitchings has to say. I'm fascinated by his ruminations about our written language having migrated from traditional prose to writings that mimic spoken language, hence the more frequent use of dashes, for example. In other words, he posts that we tend more and more to write as if we are in conversation. That's ironic, since we seem to have less and less of it, at least face to face. And more and more of it via technology. Whatever it takes to further conversation, I'm in favor.
But when he talks of predictions of punctuation that will go by the wayside, ouch! Especially if he is right about the demise of the semi colon. Say it isn't so!
Author of I is for Intercourse: The ABC's of Conversation, Susan Bird is the visionary behind Wf360, and a sought-after speaker around the world for her views on leadership, the strategic importance of conversation, entrepreneurship, and the role of women business leaders.
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