Hunting for the elusive ellipsis

In case you missed it, Sept. 24 was a very important day. It was National Punctuation Day, the holiday that reminds America that a "semicolon is not a surgical procedure."

It's true.

National Punctuation Day is an actual event founded four years ago by former newspaperman Jeff Rubin. Though it hasn't garnered acclaim on par with Halloween or Valentine's Day yet, Punctuation Day is far more noteworthy. I may be biased. I write for a living, so knowing where to put commas, parentheses and apostrophes is vital to me.

I maintain that punctuation, like spelling and grammar, should be vital to everyone. The future of the English language is at stake here.

Rubin is on to something. He dresses up as Punctuation Man, complete with a red cape, and gives school presentations about the importance of punctuation.

"Punctuation has been devalued by a generation of computer wizards who ask, 'What's the point? Nobody writes in complete sentences any more,'" Rubin notes on the holiday's Web site, www.nationalpunctuationday.com, which incidentally also features a picture of a question-mark-shaped meat loaf that can be baked in honor of the day.

"But the rules of proper punctuation haven't changed just because of computers," he continued. "Casual shortcuts bred by e-mailing and text messaging have no place in professional business writing. Words have power and help decision-makers form impressions immediately. Clarity and attention to detail remain imperative. Careless punctuation mistakes cost time, money, and productivity."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Rubin notes that poor punctuation can cost a business plenty of money, and uses a Canadian telecommunications firm as a prime example. A misplaced comma in a contract - believed to be an ironclad five-year contract - cost the company $2.13 million.

Rubin and his wife, Norma, both crusaders for perfectly placed periods, created Punctuation Playtime, a 45-minute program for elementary school children featuring games, activities and storytelling to reinforce proper punctuation.

In a world filled with the misuse of its and it's and other egregious punctuation gaffes, the Rubins are heroes to me.

The Web site is filled with lots of information, including the proper use of each kind of punctuation mark. An ellipsis, it notes, "is not when the moon moves in front of the sun." There are humorous examples of how punctuation changes the meaning of a sentence.

Example: "Let's eat, mommy." "Let's eat mommy."

If all this weren't enough, there's also a punctuation rap song aimed at teaching children. One verse states "An EXCLAMATION POINT is so like 'wow;' if you're writin' so excitin' then put me in now!" (There's also a blues version of the song you can listen to online.)

My hat is off to Rubin for taking punctuation to new heights. It's about time someone celebrated, as he puts it, "the lowly comma, correctly used quotes, and other proper uses of periods, semicolons, and the ever-mysterious ellipsis."

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com