“It should come as no surprise that writers take an interest in punctuation. I have been told that the dying words of one famous 20th-century writer were, "I should have used fewer semicolons" - and although I have spent months fruitlessly trying to track down the chap responsible, I believe it none the less. If it turns out that no one actually did say this on their deathbed, I shall certainly save it up for my own.” IfsShouldTryingBelieveHas BeensUsedTurnsI BelieveInterestMy OwnCenturyDyingMonthsShould HaveResponsibleSurpriseTrackFewer20th CenturyDeathbedPunctuationChaps Author:Lynne Truss
“The rule is: the word 'it's' (with apostrophe) stands for 'it is' or 'it has'. If the word does not stand for 'it is' or 'it has' then what you require is 'its'. This is extremely easy to grasp. Getting your itses mixed up is the greatest solecism in the world of punctuation. No matter that you have a PhD and have read all of Henry James twice. If you still persist in writing, 'Good food at it's best', you deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave.” IfsWorldWritingDoeStillsMatterEasyDeserveGravesSpotsBuriedLightningPersistGood FoodPunctuationHackedPhds Author:Lynne Truss
“The problem is that it has become politically awkward to draw attention to absolutes of bad and good. In place of manners, we now have doctrines of political correctness, against which one offends at one's peril: by means of a considerable circular logic, such offences mark you as reactionary and therefore a bad person. Therefore if you say people are bad, you are bad.” PeopleIfsMeanPersonsProblemPoliticalAttentionDrawsLogicMarkAbsolutesDoctrineMannersAwkwardPerilPolitical CorrectnessCorrectnessReactionariesOffence Author:Lynne Truss
“We have a language that is full of ambiguities; we have a way of expressing ourselves that is often complex and elusive, poetic and modulated; all our thoughts can be rendered with absolute clarity if we bother to put the right dots and squiggles between the words in the right places. Proper punctuation is both the sign and the cause of clear thinking. If it goes, the degree of intellectual impoverishment we face is unimaginable.” IfsThinkingWayFacesLanguageCausesClearDegreesIntellectualAbsolutesComplexesClarityBotherPoeticOur ThoughtsAmbiguityRight PlaceElusiveDotsUnimaginablePunctuationClear Thinking Author:Lynne Truss
“If you still persist in writing, "Good food at it's best", you deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave.” IfsWritingStillsDeserveGravesSpotsBuriedLightningPersistGood FoodHacked Author:Lynne Truss
“If we looked inside ourselves and remembered how insignificant we are, just for a couple of minutes a day, respect for other people would be an automatic result.” PeopleIfsWould BeResultsMinutesCoupleRememberedInsignificantRespecting Others Author:Lynne Truss
“Do you lend books and DVDs to people? If so, don't you always regret it? All my life I have forced books on to people who have subsequently forgotten all about it. Meanwhile, on my shelves sit many orphaned books loaned to me over the years by trusting, innocent souls - some as long ago as the Seventies.” PeopleIfsYearsLongBookSoulRegretForgottenInnocentLong AgoShelvesSeventiesDvds Author:Lynne Truss
“I hate to be treated as if I'm invisible. I get incensed when people talk across me or refuse to catch my eye in a restaurant or shop.” PeopleIfsEyeHateI HateRefuseInvisibleTreatedRestaurantsShops Author:Lynne Truss
