筆者は英語の基本的な句読点の決まりをおろそかにする人にイラっとするという。句読点のルールは軽視されがちだが、コンマやアポストロフィーを一つ省いただけで、意味が全く違ってしまうこともあるのだ。
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When I was in primary school, it was decided one year that we would do a musical production of Mary Poppins. My class was involved in an ambitious interpretation of one of the songs in the musical, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Each of us wore a letter and concluded our dance number by spelling out the entire word on stage. I'm not sure if it was because they originally didn't have a part for me, but I'm convinced that I was destined for a career in words and languages when I was assigned the role of the exclamation mark.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! I relished this responsibility, mostly because I knew exactly where I'd need to be at the end of our elaborate choreography. This was an easy-enough punctuation rule that even my 9-year-old self could get. So I was mortified when on opening night my friend -- the final "s" -- ended up swapping places with me in front of everyone. I don't claim to be a punctuation expert, but to this day, violations of what I think are pretty basic punctuation rules frustrate me to no end.
Punctuation marks are small and unassuming enough that many people think they can just be left out. Or, as in the case of apostrophes, some people over-correct themselves and add them where they don't need to be. This is known as the "greengrocer's apostrophe," the term possibly originating from how many greengrocers write things like plum's instead of plums on their signage.
There are also far too many native English speakers setting a bad example by using its and it's, and your and you're interchangeably. Another pet peeve of mine is when quotation marks are used to emphasize something, for example: We "guarantee" that you'll get rock-hard abs in only three minutes a day! Inappropriately using quotation marks makes the quoted statement look like it might not be true. And the inclusion or omission of commas in the examples "Let's eat, grandma" and "Let's eat grandma" makes all the difference in whether or not grandma decides to join you for dinner.
Communicating meaning and intention clearly isn't all about punctuation symbols, however. Capitalization also affects how readers interpret your sentence. A common mistake newbies to the world of electronic communication sometimes make is to type entirely in capital letters. WHAT THIS DOES IS MAKE IT LOOK AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING. Randomly capitalizing letters also has the disadvantage of making your writing look child-like at best, and at worst a kidnapper's ransom note.
Although they are fairly innocuous-looking, knowing how and when to use punctuation sets you apart. Even if your job doesn't require you to have much to do with words and languages, making an effort to use punctuation in the correct way shows that you're not sloppy and that you have an eye for detail. And in the case of this famous example, it can also completely change a sentence's meaning and impact:"Woman, without her man, is nothing."/"Woman: Without her, man is nothing."
- primary school
- 小学校
- was involved in 〜
- 〜にかかわっていた
- ambitious
- 大がかりな
- interpretation
- 演出
- wore a letter
- アルファベットを一文字ずつ身に着けた
- number
- 曲
- part
- 役
- (am) convinced
- 確信している
- was destined for 〜
- 〜を運命づけられた
- was assigned
- 〜を割り当てられた
- exclamation mark
- 感嘆符
- relished
- 〜を楽しんだ
- elaborate
- 凝った
- choreography
- 振り付け
- punctuation
- 句読点の
- even 〜 could get
- 〜でも分かる
- was mortified
- 悔しかった
- opening night
- 初公演の夜
- ended up 〜
- 〜する結果となった
- swapping places with 〜
- 〜と位置が入れ替わる
- to this day
- 今日に至るまで
- violations
- 違反
- frustrate
- 〜をイライラさせる
- to no end
- とても
- unassuming
- 控えめな
- be left out
- 省略される
- apostrophes
- アポストロフィー
- greengrocer
- 八百屋
- term
- 用語
- originating from 〜
- 〜に由来する
- signage
- 看板
- interchangeably
- 同じように
- pet peeve
- いつもイラつくこと
- abs(=abdominal muscles)
- 腹筋
- Inappropriately
- 不適切に
- omission
- 省くこと
- intention
- 意図
- Capitalization
- 大文字使用
- newbies
- 新参者
- Randomly
- でたらめに
- kidnapper
- 誘拐犯
- ransom note
- 身代金を要求するメモ
- innocuous-looking
- 無害に見える
- sets 〜 apart
- 〜を際立たせる
- sloppy
- だらしない
- "Woman, without her man, is nothing."/"Woman: Without her, man is nothing."
- (前半)「女性なんて、自分の男がいなけりゃどうしようもない」.(後半)「女性.彼女がいなけりゃ男性なんてどうしようもない」