Don't You Hate when People Misuse Punctuation???????????????????

In 2005, author Lynne Truss made punctuation experts of us all in her book Eats, Shoots & Leaves - The Zero Tolerance Approach To Punctuation. At least, she told us how we should write. The dichotomy between how we should write and how we do write is quite large. The study of current usage of grammar and punctuation shows a definitive sociological trend.

As formal writing becomes antiquated, punctuation runs the risk of losing meaning. This has especially become a peril of recent. When the status quo in terms of communication involved formal letter writing, it was imperative for one to make one's meaning clear. For example, to express a raised level of emotion, an exclamation point was necessary. This is in stark contrast with the instant nature of modern technological communications. In a world of computers, e-mail, text messaging, and an assortment of other instant technologies, certain punctuation may seem obsolete. Some might argue that the ability to clarify a misunderstanding immediately via these technologies mitigates the need for proper use of punctuation symbols. However, this is not the case. Simply because symbols such as the exclamation point, the ellipsis, the hyphen, parentheses, and the question mark are greatly misused does not negate their value. The assumption regarding the immediate nature of a digital medium leading to greater clarity is by no means true. An "emoticon" can be as easily misunderstood as any proper punctuation usage. Additionally, the casual attitude taken towards immediate written communication can have a paradoxical effect - not only does the writer not take the time to make sure his point is made clear via punctuation, the reader may take just as casual an attitude towards reading the message, and the point may be further confused.

One might even argue that certain symbols are better suited to the Digital Age. For instance, certain punctuation may be used, but may take on a different meaning. The ellipsis (...) is an example. Typically used to signal an edited quote, the ellipsis has taken a temporal nuance in modern writing. It frequently signals a passage of time in first-person writing, rather than an edit for space. In this example either use for temporal expression or for editing will be contextually understood.

Ultimately, instead of letting proper punctuation fall into disuse, efforts should be made to encourage proper use in formal writing, and secondarily, in everyday correspondence. This is more imperative than ever, as technology continues to promote textual discourse in both casual and formal writing.