semi colons are my favourite puctuation mark because they allow me to become enraged when peoples game attempts at utilising them fall short of my exacting but half witted standards
enthusiasm in puctuation is a double edged sword

all punctuation herein removed and donated to the national puctuation day fund
posted by NinjaPirate at 12:38 PM on August 22, 2005

On a related note, I just learned (via Typophile's forums) that cartoon swearing, ie "#@!*%" is called maledicta.
posted by yipyop at 12:43 PM on August 22, 2005

(on a tangentially related note to yipyop's comment - what is the grammatical construct of a word with another inserted in the middle called? Generally an obscenity.
Like "absa-cocking-lutely" or "un-chuffing-believable" or other such puerile amusements.)
posted by NinjaPirate at 12:53 PM on August 22, 2005

Mr. Period
posted by jlub at 12:54 PM on August 22, 2005

"semi colons are my favourite puctuation mark because they allow me to become enraged when peoples game attempts at utilising them fall short of my exacting but half witted standards
enthusiasm in puctuation is a double edged sword"

"Never use semi-colons; the only people who use semi-colons are those who want to prove to the world they know how."

--Kurt Vonnegut
posted by markovitch at 12:58 PM on August 22, 2005

ORthey: No, National Expletive Deleted Day was August 9th.
posted by ?! at 1:04 PM on August 22, 2005

Ninja Pirate:

tmesis, or maybe infix, depending I suppose on the nature of the insertion
posted by Hal Mumkin at 1:04 PM on August 22, 2005

() and {}
posted by bat at 1:05 PM on August 22, 2005

NinjaPirate, it's called an infix (see "abso-bloomin-lutely").
posted by nobody at 1:06 PM on August 22, 2005

diacope would also appear to be a synonym
posted by Hal Mumkin at 1:07 PM on August 22, 2005

@!#?@!, I thought this was going to be a post about Q*Bert.
posted by ScottUltra at 1:07 PM on August 22, 2005

yipyop: Interesting. The term "maledicta" is not found in the dictionary (at least the OED or dictionary.com) but Wikipedia has it as a magazine which is worth a FPP of its own: http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/

In fact it was, quite a while ago: http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/25167 (via WolfDaddy)

Never would have found it without your mention.
posted by spock at 1:08 PM on August 22, 2005

On post-view: Ooh, "tmesis" is a lovely word.

(on preview this time: Now "diacope" is just crazy talk.)
posted by nobody at 1:09 PM on August 22, 2005

®
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:15 PM on August 22, 2005

ə
posted by 40 Watt at 1:28 PM on August 22, 2005

∰
posted by grouse at 1:37 PM on August 22, 2005


posted by kika at 1:40 PM on August 22, 2005

You know...tmesis is quite common in Homer, and in Greek the semicolon is a question mark.

Friggin' weird, huh;
posted by eatitlive at 1:48 PM on August 22, 2005

tmesis, or maybe infix, depending I suppose on the nature of the insertion

My English/Linguistics prof called this expletive infixation, but Wikipedia nitpicks.

Hooray for the m-dash — it's my favorite and most overused punctuation mark.

M-dash: when a comma just won't do.
posted by rafter at 2:01 PM on August 22, 2005

One . in 128 pages. Read it and weep...
posted by cenoxo at 2:01 PM on August 22, 2005

One . in 128 pages. Read it and weep...

Just (silently) reading the first couple pages on Amazon makes me feel short-of-breath. Where do you put it down when it's bed-time?

On a related note, one of my favorite novels is sprinkled with page-long marathon sentences — but only where they really count.
posted by rafter at 2:08 PM on August 22, 2005

Em-dash: when you don't know how to use a colon or semi-colon.

I love love love punctuation (even the em-dash, when used well & not lazily). In fact, I have an ampersand tattoo and a semi-colon looms in my future. I cannot type more, because I am so thrilled by this holiday.
posted by dame at 2:20 PM on August 22, 2005

Oh, and screw Vonnegut. Semi-colons have nuance, my friend, nuance!
posted by dame at 2:21 PM on August 22, 2005

What is this, a semicolonoscopy?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:41 PM on August 22, 2005

If God had wanted us to use semi-colons, he would have given us punctuation. Used correctly they're like writers' masonic greetings.

And Hal Mumkin, tmesis, yes. If only I had a worthy diacritical mark, I'd use it at this point in order to express my gratitüd.
posted by NinjaPirate at 2:49 PM on August 22, 2005

@#*!

I was hoping this was a Doctor Blasphemy post!
posted by Anders Levant at 2:53 PM on August 22, 2005

Magnificent post and thread—thanks, ?!! (I especially appreciate the linked history of Greek punctuation.)

Also, I agree with dame: screw Vonnegut.
posted by languagehat at 3:05 PM on August 22, 2005

Huzzah.
posted by Colloquial Collision at 4:14 PM on August 22, 2005

well, i have an apostrophe in my last name. i always thought that was neat.
posted by brandz at 4:37 PM on August 22, 2005

§
posted by Citizen Premier at 5:32 PM on August 22, 2005

[!]
posted by Citizen Premier at 5:33 PM on August 22, 2005

Speaking of §, what the hell is it? I'd google it, but, y'know.
posted by squidlarkin at 5:40 PM on August 22, 2005

The "§" character is a section sign.
posted by musicinmybrain at 10:12 PM on August 22, 2005

‡
posted by sciurus at 5:44 AM on August 23, 2005

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