Tuesday, October 31, 2006

The colon: overused?

Yes. But it's my favorite punctuation mark.

5 comments:

Mr. Middlebrow said...

For me, it's definitely--wait for it--the mighty em dash. Or, as I like to call it, the über comma.

Care to guess my favorite diacritical mark?

Irene Done said...

Um...laut?

Ha! Pronunciation mark humor -- rich!

Seriously though I am in awe of anyone who has a favorite diacritical mark and anyone who can work the oft-ignored semicolon into a joke. Well done, gentlemen!

Also, I commend Mr. Middlebrow for correctly using no spaces around the em dash. I myself never get this right. But: I quit my very first job in advertising because the agency owner wanted to remove em dashes from an ad. Some beliefs are simply worth standing up for.

Mr. Middlebrow said...

Irene,

After reading this:
I quit my very first job in advertising because the agency owner wanted to remove em dashes from an ad.
I have just one question: Will you marry me? Either way, you've just transformed me from casual NB reader to borderline stalker. :^)

Also, not to take anything away from MTLB, but I think working a semicolon into a joke might actually be easier than using it in a sentence.

Irene Done said...

I would be honored to be your bride. Think how crisply written and accurately punctuated our banns will be! Oh, I'm weeping right now just imagining it.

Or, if that's rushing things, we can do the borderline stalking thing. I'm open-minded.

Mr. Middlebrow said...

Irene:
Thanks for accepting my proposal--and teaching me a new word! Of course, we'll write our own vows, each of which should end with "So say we all," natch. ;^)

Which reminds me: isn't it nice to see the semi-colon enjoying something of a revival as the #2 emoticon?

MTLB: [Put that thing away; you're embarrassing my fiancée!]