Punctuation.

I used to think that punctuation was utterly boring; I mean who CARES whether or not you should use a comma or a periodand who REALLY knows (or cares) about what the difference is between a colon and a semi-colon? Right?
As you get older though, everyone can agree that after gaining some years under your belt, you begin to realize so much more about lifeand the little things that you used to not give a rat's hoot about, suddenly seem to mean so much more; such as punctuation.

I think it all started really making sense to me once I developed my own sense of humor. In all honestly, there are some things that are just not that funnyuntil, of course, you add some punctuation that you can SEE instead of just read or speak. (Note: just the use of bold, italics, underline and CAPTIAL LETTERS have such an affect on a readerit's almost uncanny!)

Take this sentence for example:

- Americans demand fast service, even faster women and super speedy lines

(You really don't see any humor in this sentence, since there is NOTHING emphasized and it doesn't even tell you how to end the sentence since there is no PUNCUATION)

Now try THIS sentence

- My boyfriend "claims" that Americans demand fast serviceeven faster womenAND super-speedy lines

(Right here you can see almost feel that this sentence has a sort of mystery behind itwe're getting warmer)

Lastly, this is how I originally wrote the sentence

-My boyfriend "claims" that Americans demand FAST service, even FASTER women and super-speedy lines!

(I'm sure you felt it toothe URGECNCY, the speed and the excitement)! Precisely.

Now, when you first saw the title of this article, "Punctuation.", doesn't it just make your palms sweat, like you were back in grade school or something? To top it off, the period added into the title makes it even more like:

"Punctuation. (Period, NO questions asked)" Yikes! That's hardcore

One more thing (and my personal favorite) is the infamous "quotations marks"
Hehe

Read this:
-Yes your honor, I'm "telling the truth" (Evil grin/snicker).

Or this:

- Just call me "Number two" (haha)!

Okay, to be honestI could really go on with this for HOURSthe punctuation possibilities are endless, but I won't because I'm sure that if your not "punctuation obsessed," like mewell, then I can only hope that you've found this (mildly) amusing, maybe found a new respect and use for punctuation. (Sigh) I can only hope

Learn more about this author, Elizabeth Etzel.
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