“Thurber was asked by a correspondent: "Why did you have a comma in the sentence, 'After dinner, the men went into the living-room'?" And his answer was probably one of the loveliest things ever said about punctuation. "This particular comma," Thurber explained, "was Ross's way of giving the men time to push back their chairs and stand up.” MenWayGivingSaidAnswersRoomsParticularDinnerSentencesChairsLiving RoomPunctuationThurber Author:Lynne Truss
“For any true stickler, you see, the sight of the plural word “Book’s” with an apostrophe in it will trigger a ghastly private emotional process similar to the stages of bereavement, though greatly accelerated. First there is shock. Within seconds, shock gives way to disbelief, disbelief to pain, and pain to anger. Finally (and this is where the analogy breaks down), anger gives way to a righteous urge to perpetrate an act of criminal damage with the aid of a permanent marker.” WayGivingFirstsBookPainProcessBreakStageEmotionalSightAidsCriminalsPermanentDamageShockUrgesSecondsRighteousBreaking DownBereavementTriggersDisbeliefAnalogiesGhastlyMarkers Author:Lynne Truss
“I do needlepoint from kits. I give them as gifts to people in the form of cushion covers and they are often speechless with horror.” PeopleGivingFormHorrorCushionsSpeechless Author:Lynne Truss
“All writers learn this, in time: don't show your work to other people until it's safely finished. Even discussing your unborn book in quite general terms can be such an undermining experience that, afterwards, you give it up and go to live in Guatemala.” PeopleGivingBookShowsTermFinishedUnbornDiscussingUnderminingGuatemala Author:Lynne Truss
