sentence, the author points out that "Without a comma, (it should of course be: 'Go, get him surgeons!'). Lynne!!!!!!!

shows a picnic scene with a man grilling a hot dog that is three times bigger than he is. Eats, Shoots and Leaves By Lynne Truss Profile Books, £9.99, pp209. Eats = well, that one's simple, you don't need help, it really is just eating Shoots = shoot with a gun, or eating shoots (young plants, bamboo, etc.)

And she reminds us of that old gag loved by Spike Milligan that reworks a sentimental song lyric into a domestic inquiry with one stroke of a comma - 'What is this thing called, love?'

When I was a kid, I didn't see why punctuation, other than a period at the end of a sentence, mattered, and I suspect that many kids feel that way today. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation is a non-fiction book written by Lynne Truss, the former host of BBC Radio 4's Cutting a Dash programme. Teachers will enjoy using the book because it illustrates the importance of punctuation in a way that will engage students' interest.

Do we really care that the italic typeface was invented by a geezer called Aldus Manutius the Elder (1449-1515)?

She has called it Eats, Shoots and Leaves , a title which comes from a joke in which a panda goes into a bar, asks for a ham sandwich, eats it and then takes out a revolver and fires it into the air. My favourite story is one about the American chap playing Duncan in Macbeth , listening with appropriate pity and concern while a wounded soldier gives his account of a battle and then cheerfully calling out: 'Go get him, surgeons!'

Each set of facing pages contains the same sentence. Well, Lynne Truss, who is a little worried about the dash - I know how you feel, Lynne - has written a 'zero- tolerance approach to punctuation' that aims to explain why it really does matter. Elizabeth Kennedy is an educator specializing in early childhood and elementary education who has written about children's literature for over a decade. Eats, shoots and leaves.” ― Lynne Truss, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.

For example, the sentence "Look at that huge hot dog!"

Punctuation!!!! But this is more than a witty, elegant and passionate book that should be on every writer's shelf. takes a humorous look at how the placement of commas can totally change the meaning of a sentence.

His counsel contended that, because the Act was unpunctuated, the phrase 'if the man be adherent to the king's enemies in his realm giving to them aid and comfort in the realm or elsewhere' could be construed to mean that it was perfectly all right to plot against the realm provided you did it abroad.

tags: pandas, punctuation. proved that 'giving aid and comfort' were words of apposition, ie if you were on the side of the king's enemies you were on their side wherever you happened to be. (Yes, grammar made fun. Done.

She is also the author of a number of radio comedy dramas.

According to her publisher, "Lynne Truss also hosted Cutting a Dash, a popular BBC Radio 4 series about punctuation. The funny sentences and illustrations will also help them to remember the points the author makes

This, according to Mr Justice Darling (is this where Blackadder got the name?)

Truss does so in an entertaining way, and she actually makes grammar... fun. An outgrowth of Lynn Truss's radio series about punctuation,

When British author Lynne Truss's book for adults

For example, in the "Look at that huge hot dog!" As Lynne Truss points out in the Introduction, "Commas can create havoc when they are left out or are put in the wrong spot, and the results of misuse can be hilarious." There are plenty of laughs in this book.

When the publican asks him what on earth he is doing, he throws a book on to the bar and growls: 'This is a badly punctuated wildlife manual. For each set of sentences, there are thumbnails of the illustrations and an explanation of the function of the comma(s) in the sentences. When is it correct to use an_ er_ ellipsis? Author Lynne Truss has a background as a literary editor, novelist, television critic, and newspaper columnist.

... invites you to give careful consideration to the meaning of what you are saying. Two judges trudged off to the public records and found a faint comma, after the second 'realm'. And is the semicolon really 'a compliment from the writer to the reader'? Will not an ordinary dash - like this one - do just as well?

Large, black-and-white, bear-like mammal native to China. Well.

122 likes. Who needs it???? The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning.”