The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-03-18
STYLE And PUNCTUATION
!H1GHsouNpNa WORDS TAKING THE
PLACE OF GOOD ENGLISH woRDs-THE
usE AND ABUSE OF THE GONNA.


Essay Road Before the Abbevllle Lit.
ersry Club, Friday Evening,
February ls, 1891, by Hr. Hugh
Wilson.
Mr.. Presidsnt and Gentlemen OF the Abbe-
ville Literary Club:
..the act or art Of punctuating or pointing .
writing or discourse, or the act or art OF mark
ing with points the divisions OF discourse a1
Usually understood, Is performed with four
points, namely, the period }, the colon %,
the semicolon {; }, and the comma :, ! Gs Inc
of q rhetorical and syntactical nature The
anoIefsfa iegere unacQuainted with puuctua-
on without wo,asy any d!St,no,SR Sa oaeTn OF
Invention Of printing. The first printed
books only parks ks here and
that an approach was made to the present
In one of the trade papers. coming from one Of
the type-foundries in the West may be found
a long article in which the writer makes
q strong protest against the use OF all punct-
uation points. The writer Of that
article urged that there Is in no ys sc lot anS
force to his argument against punctua-
lion Wr,;o a column in which there
was not a single point from beginning to
like all writer's on reform, he Of course
urged from first to last the economic advan-
taees OF his system. BY emitting the points \
great saving would be effected in the buying
Of type, and the cost Of setting and printing
would be greatly reduced, without lessening
The force and clearnesS OF the printed mat
The writer OF the article presented his
views clearly, and his meaning In every
instance being unmistakable, he did not ar
Under a system of that kind every writer
would of necessity be compelled to study the
art Of expressing his thoughts with greater
r. instead of Improperly dividing their
sentences. writers were compelled to
arrange their words correctly, without de-
pending upon the comma to throw light on
orical riddles, The readinS .pupnc would
have something for which to be thank.
full. o,o,u, .,o s,.,,.,.
or separation OF words and ideas. which should
appear close together, without the interven-
tion or intrusion of other and distinct
In discussing this view of the question 1t is
debatable whether the comma does more good
or more harm. "
together, every writer would be thrown upon
bis own resources to make clear or
dim, the thoughts and ideas which he
wonid express He would not have this SER
vant~this maid Of all work-to follow after
him, to interpret mass OF III assorted words,
or stand like sentries along his path to ex-
plain In English, what would otnerwlse peldle
iabber or senseless jargon.
Without the comma, writer's would necessa-
rily be compelled TO make their sentences
plain and iutelligible, and In consequence
plain form of speech would be adopted
Rut without the comma there are many SEN
tences in theEnglish language whose mean
ing would be left in doubt. Take, for
the instance, the we'll known lines
"Thsre's a divinity that shapes ends,
Rough-hew them how we will"
But suppose the comma were placed diff
ferently
.sThere', divinity that shapes our ends rough,
Hew them how we will"
Although the comma is the most abused
punctuation point, and although its use often
fnologizes for an authors laziness or careless
ness. vet for the careful and painstaking
writer the use Of this point is essential to the
Without the use of the comma the most de-
licate and artistic shades and forms of speech
would fail to find expression; our enthus-
iasm would find less ardent utterance
The eloquent orator would lose much OF his
nower-and, even the ablest speakers would
fail far short Of the sublimity and splendor
which they now attain.
The comma adds to the rhetorical beauty
and sweetness Of expression, but the period
gives greater force and power nd platnness to
speech. ,ou,, ,,o,,s o.,o,. ,.or,
NAV be most easily confounded
When the semicolon lengthens the sentence
beyond It's natural limits, thought loses Its
force and plainness Of meaning.
While the period is useful in giving force To
one,s expressions, the making Of q paragraph
OF each sentence is also promotive OF still
greater strength.
plan would require would make 1t too ex-
pspsiye to meet with general favor by news
paper publishers.
The parentheses enclose words Whlch are
not q part Of the sentence. but which may be
brackets are used by one man to enclose =
word or expression Of his own IN the piece OF
One strange thing about the use OF the
exclamation and interrogation points, 10
that they are placed only at tho end OF tho
These points. like the turned commas which
mark the quotation, should be placed at
the very beginning as we'll vt the close OF the
sentences in which they are used.
And besides all this array of points.
The English language needs and dem ands,
another point-a point which Will mean q
brief pause in speech, without indicstihg the
comma There are sentences whose very
meaning may be changed by the slightest ON.
phasis OF the spoken words, and as punctua-
iton points are arbitrary or mechanical de-
vices intended to instruct the eye, and there
fore TO govern the voice, SO O proper use of
the points Is OF highest Importance.
They cannot be properly uispeHSeu With as
long as we punctuatc, or modulate or accent
Or emphasize the spoken words.
The comma makes a well defined ub'divix-
ION of q sentence, but the needed point should
leach us to make at the proper place slighter
stops than should be made ut dennable sub
division of speech.
The use Of italic letters is n faVorite method
which some writer's have OF emphasizing par
ticular words or sentences, but on the part o
printers there seems to be n universal dis.
like of this mode of punctuation. In many
OF the newspaper offices the use OF italics
has been almost abandoned, except In special
cases.
So the rule in sOmo of the printing
offices is to disregard the underscoring by
correspondents, except when they use foreign
;:Ords In such cases the printer always uses
italic, and generally manages to m Ike nota-
ole and provoking errors or miSprints.
Asa rule the English language Is sufficient
Is rich to express the all ideas OF the average
newspaper correspondent, and If he under
takes to use foreign languages he does SO at
MS own peril.
Within the last few years the use OF capital
letters has been much reduced. This change
mas for its chief mcril-cconomy. Economy OF
time and space.