MIND TOUR COMMAS.

Western Star, 26 March 1920, Page 3

MIND TOUR COMMAS.

Many errors —novel, ludicrous,, and tragic—occur through wrong punctuation. The misplacement of a comma will sometimes produce an idea, one would rather have expressed differently. As an instrument of punctuation in printed text the comma was first seen in tho year 1521. A good plan is to use comma's only when they are absolutely necessary. On one occasion, in the House of Commons, Mr Churchill was asked a question in regard to the alteration since 189-1 of the punctuation of “Thy will be done, in earth as it is in Heaven,” in the Prayer Book. Eiarlier the comma was put after the word “earth.” air Churchill replied that the printers presumably follow the Greek. He added that he had no power- to alter the punctuation, which would require (1) King’s Letters to Convocation, (2) recommendation by Convocation, and (3) an Act of Parliament.

A certain school inspector, arriving in a Scottish burgh, requested the Provost to accompany him on -ai tour around the schoms. The Provost, a.s he prepared to go muttered to himself: “I wonder why that ass has come again,” a remark which the inspector overheard, but affected to ignore. Arrived at the first school ho proposed to examine the pupils in punctuation, but the Provost remarked : “We don’t trouble about commas.” The inspector merely told! one of the boys to write' on the blackboard : “ The Provost of says the Inspector is an ass.” “Now,” he added, “put a comma after the name of the place, and another after inspector.” The boy did so, and the sentence then read; “ The Provost of —says the inspector, is an ass.” The Provost Inals changed his opinion as to the value of commas.

Here is an instance of punctuation which _ clearly points to the necessity of printers understanding not only what is written, but possessing the knowledge how to express it. Describing the costumes at a reception, the newspaper report that “Mrs Smith wore nothing that was remarkable,” was transformed into the 'astounding assertion that “ Mrs Smith wore nothin; that was remarkable.” It is recorded that a distinguished graduate at Oxford determined to enter the Non-conformist ministry, and, quite unnecessarily published) a (manifesto setting forth his reasons and) intentions. In his enumeration of the various methods by which he was going to mark his aloofness from the sacerdotalism of the Established Church, he wrote; “ I shall wear no clothes, to distinguish me from my fellow-Ohrist-ians.” The picture shops in Oxford soon displayed a fancy portrait of the newly-fledged minister clad in what Art-emus Ward called “the scandalous style of the Greek slave,” and bearing the inscription: “The Rev. distinguishing himself from his fellow-Christians.”

A convivial host on one occasion proposed the following toast: “ Woman, without her man would be a savage,” but the toast list was printed thus: “ Woman, without her man, would be a savage.” Readers may have heard of the printer who, in setting up the Psalms for the day, put the commas- in the wrong places. One verse should haveread: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous is bold as a lion.” The passage was printed thus: “ The wicked flee when no man pureuetE but the righteous, is bold as a lion.” A provincial journal announced that “ Two young men, with lady friends, want to -a teachers’ meeting, and after they had left, the girls got drunk.” Here, again, the punctuation was wrong. The moral is—“ Mind your commas I 1 Scotsman. ’