“People don’t know why they get so upset about language,” David Crystal told me recently, over Skype from his home in Wales. “ ‘Potato’s,’ with an apostrophe ‘S,’ ” he offered, as an example of the ...

Only Slate Plus members can gift Slate stories. Become a member to share 10 free articles a month. The following is the first of three excerpts from Keith Houston’s new book, Shady Characters: The ...

A moment's hesitation... Yes, a full stop here – but shouldn’t there be a comma there? Or would a hyphen be better? Punctuation can be a nuisance; it is often simply neglected. Wrong! The most recent ...

Statistical analysis of classic literature has shown that the way punctuation breaks up text obeys certain universal mathematical relationships. James Joyce's tome "Finnegans Wake," however, famously ...

It can be a heartbreaking experience for teachers when students present them with a page of writing which could be brilliant, if only it were punctuated correctly. These resources offer a ray of hope ...

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When reading a classic book, we tend to pay attention to the themes, the characters, and the story. We say the words aloud. We notice everything, in fact, except for one crucial thing: the punctuation ...