Re: grammar tricks

[Margaret Clark <clark@uhdux2.dt.uh.edu>]

On Thu, 21 Nov 1996 diepenbrock@UHCL4.CL.UH.EDU wrote:

> If a sentence is a "vehicle" for thought, then a period is a full stop, a 
> semi-colon is a half-stop (a California stop), and a comma is a quarter stop 
> (or a yield sign).  I don't quite know how to fit a colon into my 
> metaphor.  Can anyone help?
> Chloe Diepenbrock  

I promised myself to stop but I can't, I'm hooked .....

Sure. Hi, Chloe. A colon is a full stop too. See that little dot there on
the bottom? Just like the ones in question marks and exclamation points? 
I really like the British "full stop" designation for periods; it's much
more descriptive than "period," and it distinguishes between periods that
are full stops and ones that mark abbreviations which, of course, are not. 
The neat thing about colons is that there are _two_ little dots, which
sort of look like an itty-bitty "equals" sign, which is exactly what it
is: it comes at the end of a complete sentence and indicates that
following that sentence is an element that is the equivalent of the
sentence. 

Someone needs to stop me before I hurt myself.

Margaret
clark@dt.uh.edu