Making a Point audiobook cover - The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation

Making a Point

The Persnickety Story of English Punctuation

David Crystal

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EducationCommunication Skills

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Mind Map

Making a Point
Evolution & Function+
The Punctuation Hierarchy+
The Danger of Strict Rules+
Creative Application+
Digital Age Transformations+

Quiz — Test Your Understanding

Question 1 of 7
Why were spaces between words largely unnecessary in the earliest written inscriptions?
  • A. Only highly educated scholars were permitted to read and write.
  • B. Early inscriptions were mostly about people and places, making them relatively unambiguous.
  • C. The physical effort of carving spaces into stone was considered too time-consuming.
  • D. Early languages had much smaller vocabularies, making individual words easy to distinguish.
Question 2 of 7
According to the text, why is bold type increasingly replacing italics as a way to add emphasis?
  • A. Bold type is easier to read on lower-resolution computer screens.
  • B. Italics are now strictly reserved for citing book and movie titles.
  • C. Modern style guides have officially deprecated the use of italic fonts.
  • D. Bold type takes up less digital storage space than italicized text.
Question 3 of 7
How has the function of the period evolved in the context of modern instant messaging?
  • A. It has become the primary way to separate complex clauses in a single text.
  • B. It is now exclusively used to denote abbreviations rather than to end sentences.
  • C. Its presence at the end of a message can now imply dissatisfaction, anger, or exasperation.
  • D. It is frequently used to replace commas to create a more urgent tone.
Question 4 of 7
What was the consequence for the two friends who traveled across the U.S. correcting punctuation on public signs?
  • A. They were celebrated by the National Park Service for their grammatical vigilance.
  • B. They were fined and banned from national parks for defacing a historic 1930s sign.
  • C. They successfully lobbied for stricter punctuation laws on federal property.
  • D. They were sentenced to six months in jail for altering government property.
Question 5 of 7
Why did Lloyds Banking Company eventually drop the apostrophe from its name?
  • A. To modernize its brand image for internet domain names.
  • B. To save money on printing costs for their physical signage.
  • C. Because customers kept incorrectly placing it, which led to legal complications.
  • D. Because the English language officially abandoned the possessive apostrophe for businesses.
Question 6 of 7
Why did James Joyce omit punctuation for the final 40 pages of his novel Ulysses?
  • A. To protest the strict punctuation rules enforced by his publishers.
  • B. To visually mimic the physical movement of aerial acrobats.
  • C. To effectively communicate a character's continuous stream-of-consciousness.
  • D. To ensure the text could be interpreted in multiple, ambiguous ways.
Question 7 of 7
What does the text suggest about the impact of texting abbreviations and emoticons on young people's literacy?
  • A. It is severely degrading their ability to write formal school essays.
  • B. It is a passing trend that will inevitably be replaced by traditional grammar.
  • C. It is largely harmless because youths understand the boundary between formal and informal contexts.
  • D. It has led to the creation of a new, universally accepted formal digital language.

Making a Point — Full Chapter Overview

Making a Point Summary & Overview

Making a Point (2015) is all about punctuation, the little marks that tie written language together. These blinks explain what function punctuation serves, why it can become a heated topic of discussion and how writers have used it creatively for years.

Who Should Listen to Making a Point?

  • Anyone who writes
  • Students of language or literature
  • Grammar nerds

About the Author: David Crystal

David Crystal is an Irish linguist and author. He’s worked on over a hundred books across a range of fields. He also wrote How Language Works and co-authored Shakespeare’s Words, both of which are best sellers.

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