It's Wednesday, and you know what that means? No. Not a new episode of Zero Punctuation...wait...yes it does. Hold on.
Okay, back. Where does he come up with that stuff? Actually...I don't want to know.
Eh? What are you looking at me for I wasn't about to tell you anything. Oh! A lesson on grammar, eh? Right.
Punctuation.
You all know how to use it. And if you don't then talk to your English teacher. You see, I used to say "Grammar is what separates us from the animals." And it is. "Grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language." (Wikipedia) Animals can communicate. Monkeys can wave their hands around and throw poo at each other. Depending on how they throw their poo determines the message. Dolphins squeak and splash and depending on how they do that determines the message.
So I was wrong in my original declaration that Grammar separates us from the animal kingdom. Because their languages have rules too. A monkey can't throw his poo into another monkey's face and expect good results. There are rules. So what it comes down to is punctuation. Punctuation separates us from the animals, as we humans are the only ones to have evolved a written language, so we needed special rules for this written language too. When you speak, you don't really use punctuation, since punctuation can almost be defined as a modifier to how the sentence is spoken. A period denotes a pause, a comma can denote a list of items, a side note, or even two ideas squished into one.
This post isn't going to teach you any punctuation, but hopefully convince you to start using it if you don't. After all, humans don't throw their poo around in attempts to communicate, so why poo all over your keyboard and call it a post? Take respect in what you type.
Bonus:
Semi-colons are used to join two connected sentences.
Ex: I play on eGO servers; I like them the best.
Notice both halves of that sentence could stand on their own, but are improved for better understanding by connecting them with a semi-colon.
Okay, back. Where does he come up with that stuff? Actually...I don't want to know.
Eh? What are you looking at me for I wasn't about to tell you anything. Oh! A lesson on grammar, eh? Right.
Punctuation.
You all know how to use it. And if you don't then talk to your English teacher. You see, I used to say "Grammar is what separates us from the animals." And it is. "Grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language." (Wikipedia) Animals can communicate. Monkeys can wave their hands around and throw poo at each other. Depending on how they throw their poo determines the message. Dolphins squeak and splash and depending on how they do that determines the message.
So I was wrong in my original declaration that Grammar separates us from the animal kingdom. Because their languages have rules too. A monkey can't throw his poo into another monkey's face and expect good results. There are rules. So what it comes down to is punctuation. Punctuation separates us from the animals, as we humans are the only ones to have evolved a written language, so we needed special rules for this written language too. When you speak, you don't really use punctuation, since punctuation can almost be defined as a modifier to how the sentence is spoken. A period denotes a pause, a comma can denote a list of items, a side note, or even two ideas squished into one.
This post isn't going to teach you any punctuation, but hopefully convince you to start using it if you don't. After all, humans don't throw their poo around in attempts to communicate, so why poo all over your keyboard and call it a post? Take respect in what you type.
Bonus:
Semi-colons are used to join two connected sentences.
Ex: I play on eGO servers; I like them the best.
Notice both halves of that sentence could stand on their own, but are improved for better understanding by connecting them with a semi-colon.
I think i understand it now
