Punctuation+Matters!!!

=**The following items were all taken from the best-selling book, //Eats, Shoots and Leaves//, by Lynne Truss (Gotham Books, 2003).**= = = =**Do you see how, in each example, punctuation makes all the difference?**=



And this is true, without deceit.
== Sometimes punctuation can mean life or death. The following telegram was sent in just before New Year's Day of 1896 in South Africa, and it precipitated what we now call the Jameson Raid, a fiasco of misunderstanding. Truss writes: "The Transvaal was a Boer republic at the time, and it was believed that the British and other settlers around Johannesburg (who were denied civil rights) would rise up if Jameson invaded. But unfortunately, when the settlers sent their telegraphic invitation to Jameson, it included a tragic ambiguity: ==

not fail to come to the rescue of people who are so situated."
== Do you see how the telegram's meaning can be construed 2 ways? If you place a period after the word "aid," the message clearly implies Jameson should come at once. If you put the period after "here," however, it suggests help may or may not be needed at a later date, depending upon what happens -- but no action is needed right now. ==

== What would you do? Jameson decided it was better to act than to wait, so he rode off with a group and raided the settlement. Fortunately, the raid was ineffective (since no one expected his arrival!) -- but it was a factor leading to the Boer War. ==

Charles the First walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off.
= = =Finally, here is a chart posted at the MENSA website. (MENSA is a group for people with a genius-level I. Q.)=