20100923 Needed Punctuation (1)

Needed: Punctuation

Without little marks and spaces, written language is not easy to understand

CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCES LIKETHIS? The ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks probably didn't bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc. The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this; They‧put‧a‧point‧between‧each‧word‧in‧a‧sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a prick.

When the 5th century arrived, there were just two punctuation marks; spaces and points. The spaces separated words while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13th century, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicae short pause. Over time, that slash pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma.

punctuation n. 標點/標點符號

eg: Punctuation sometimes expresses the writer's feelings.

=> 標點有時候可以表達寫作時的情緒。

eg: Points will be deducted for each mistake in punctuation.

=> 每個標點的錯誤都會扣分。

switch v. 改變/轉換

switch to

eg: The politician suddenly switched sides and went against his old allies.

=> 這個政客突然改變立場跟舊戰友對抗

eg: To boost the atmosphere of the party, the DJ switched to another kind of music.

=> 為了炒熱party的氣氛，DJ換成另外一種音樂

standard n. 標準

standardize v. 使標準化/使統一化

=> make it standard

eg: The manufacturing process needs to be standardized to ensure the quality of the product.

=> 製造的過程需要標準化才能確保產品的品質

prick v. 刺(穿)/扎(穿)/戳(穿)

curl v. 使(頭髮)捲曲

=> make something in the shape of curl

//== Chat room ==//

punctuation marks 標點符號

marks 符號

make marks 做記號

make one's mark on someone 在某人心中流下好印象

leave a mark 留下傷痕

eg: leave a mark on the kids.

=> 在小孩的心中留下傷痕

//== More Information ==//

When you're writing in any language it's important to have a good command of that language's punctuation. After all, one misplaced punctuation mark could drastically change the meaning of sentence! Two punctuation marks that are often confused are the colon and semicolon. Two more to watch out for are the dash and the hyphen. As punctuation marks, they perform different functions but they look almost identical!