Graham King defines the semicolon as 'a pause somewhere between a strong comma and a weak full stop'. Explaining all the functions of the semicolon would take a while, but, since I have go, one example is enough for now. Take this sentence: Those in the bus crash included Mr and Mrs Watson, their twin children, Jeff and Jack, Helen and Karen Thompson, etc. Are the twin children called Jeff and Jack? Or is 'Jeff and Jack' a separate word group? To make the list crystal clear and easily read, I would use a semicolon to separate these word groups: Those in the bus crash included Mr and Mrs Watson, their twin children; Jeff and Jack; Helen and Karen Thompson, etc. Now it's clear that Jeff and Jack aren't the twin's names. As for the difference between 'I helped my uncle jack off the horse' and 'I helped my uncle Jack off the horse', the first has an obscene meaning; the phrase 'jack off' means masturbate, I'm afraid. Capitalizing the 'J' shows that Jack is the name of a person, leaving no room for misunderstanding.
That is interesting. It never occured to me that there was such a thing a strong or weak punctuation. I see punctuation as something that breaks a momentum , something we do not do when we talk. to be truthfully honest with you I did not have any problems with this version. I read it as in the twins were none of the other names mentioned. I understoof the other names were refering to other people. Oh dear in the same breath as the name Roger . The first time I heard it I was told it was rude too. I am sure you would also understand what I am talking about,only the name I gave you needs a 'TO' in front to make it rude.
"I helped my uncle, Jack, off the horse." Fixed. See, grammar can be a life-saver. Edit: Lol, I posted before reading the rest of the thread. Sorry.
Surely you notice emphasis on certain words? You might not think of it as a capital and technically it isn't but that's what is used to denote that particular type of emphasis in writing. Italics could also be used I suppose. Also capitals are important for distinguishing between proper and improper nouns. the word lord for example is an improper noun referring to lords in general. Lord refers to a specific lord. It's especially useful when someones name or title is spelled the same as another word, as per the horse masturbating example.
Why, yes. It's called intonation. Did I say follow blindly? No, I did not. I said that to break a rule without knowing why will make you appear ignorant, not enlightened. You can write your stories hanging upside down in a tree like a bat if you want to, but if you ignore conventional grammar and spelling because 'you don't like it', you will have trouble getting anyone to read your stories. And that's why most people write stories: to have them read by others.
Turkish has no word for he, she, it. Everything is just 'it'. There are no words for brother/sister, everything is 'sibling', etc, etc, (many more examples).
wow....I am shocked...that is strange to me. how about mother and father? uncle/aunt/ or is that just under Family?
It was a pretty short story. Still, I had to keep reminding myself not to slip into using he/she! I wanted the see if I could create a mistaken impression of one thing, when it is in fact another. How well it worked, I'm not sure.
