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The Accidental Apostrophe Caroline Taggart

The Accidental Apostrophe By Caroline Taggart

The Accidental Apostrophe by Caroline Taggart


$13.69
Condition - Very Good
Only 4 left

Summary

Sunday Times bestselling author Caroline Taggart takes her usual gentle and gently humorous approach to punctuation, pointing out what really matters and what doesn't.

The Accidental Apostrophe Summary

The Accidental Apostrophe: ... And Other Misadventures in Punctuation by Caroline Taggart

Sunday Times bestselling author Caroline Taggart brings her usual gently humorous approach to punctuation, pointing out what really matters and what doesn't.

In Roman times, blocks of text were commonly written just as blocks without even wordspacingnevermindpunctuation to help the reader to interpret them. Orators using such texts as notes for a speech would prepare carefully so that they were familiar with the content and didn't come a cropper over a confusion between, say, therapists and the rapists. As we entered the Christian era and sacred texts were widely read (by priests if not by the rest of us), it became ever more important to remove any likelihood of misinterpretation. To a potential murderer or adulterer, for example, there is a world of difference between 'If you are tempted, yield not, resisting the urge to commit a sin' and 'If you are tempted, yield, not resisting the urge to commit a sin'. And the only surface difference is the positioning of a comma.

So yes, you SMS-addicts and 'let it all hang out' Sixties children, punctuation does matter. And, contrary to what people who tear their hair out over apostrophes believe, it is there to help - to clarify meaning, to convey emphasis, to indicate that you are asking a question or quoting someone else's words. It also comes in handy for telling your reader when to pause for breath.

Caroline Taggart, who has made a name for herself expounding on the subjects of grammar, usage and words generally (and who for decades made her living putting in the commas in other people's work), takes her usual gently humorous approach to punctuation. She points out what matters and what doesn't; why using six exclamation marks where one will do is perfectly OK in a text but will lose you marks at school; why hang glider pilots in training really need a hyphen; and how throwing in the odd semicolon will impress your friends. Sometimes opinionated but never dogmatic, she is an ideal guide to the (perceived) minefield that is punctuation.

By the same author:
9781843176572 My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?)
9781782432944 500 Words you Should Know

The Accidental Apostrophe Reviews

Engagingly written, the book is highly readable and will make you think about the way you use punctuation - and that's got to be a good thing * Parents in Touch *

About Caroline Taggart

Caroline Taggart worked in publishing as an editor of popular non-fiction for thirty years before being asked by Michael O'Mara Books to write I Used to Know That, which became a Sunday Times bestseller. Following that she was co-author of My Grammar and I (or should that be 'Me'?), and wrote a number of other books about words and English usage. She has appeared frequently on television and on national and regional radio, talking about language, grammar and whether or not Druids Cross should have an apostrophe.

Her website is carolinetaggart.co.uk and you can follow her on Twitter @citaggart.

Additional information

GOR008706602
9781782438205
1782438203
The Accidental Apostrophe: ... And Other Misadventures in Punctuation by Caroline Taggart
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
20171019
192
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Accidental Apostrophe