Guess Who : Riddles in Rhyme

Charlie, Charlie, likes to parley
talks to oats and beans and barley.
What he tells them nobody knows
but that's the way his garden grows.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The King of Babylon ruled his land
with an iron glove on an iron hand.
He made the country shiver and shake
and kept the bushes wide awake.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A rich young man who lived in the east
became a fierce and cunning beast.
He left his home and lived in a cave
because he didn't know how to behave.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
An iron lady came to town
and turned the country upside down.
Some said hang her, some said burn,
but no one could make the lady turn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
One two three, what do I see?
four five six, who's playing tricks?
seven eight nine, spin me a line.
number ten, messed up again.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A Scotsman who wasn’t, flew very high;
he wanted to rule both earth and sky
but things went wrong when a brook went astray.
His empire collapsed but he went on his way.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Queen of Hearts she topped the charts,
her own heart it was torn.
She took a ride and sadly died
which made the people mourn.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
They called him a king, he was really a child
loved by the millions he thrilled and beguiled.
His fame has outlived him, his magic lives on;
the man in the mirror, untimely gone.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Such a dear person, a star shining bright
with looks so amazing, can this be right?
It would appear she can turn back time.
But unlike Jesse James she commits no crime.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A thistle, a rose and a daffodil,
united in space if not in will.
What shall become of them do you suppose,
the thistle, the daffodil, and the rose?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
 A farmer’s boy became a king;
the earth was rocked when he started to sing.
From land of cotton to land of grace
everyone came to know his face.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From rebel to president this man rose
a man of vision as everyone knows.
Jailed for treason yet prized for peace
his struggle for justice would never cease.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
She tops the bill and what a top!
Where do her enhancements stop?
Her coat of many colours shows
her love of life where’er she goes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He silently played many parts in his day,
the idol in many an old matinée.
Named for a reindeer or maybe a saint,
was he the first to make young women faint?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Was he a monster, a creature of night
or just a cruel Romanian fright?
Dragons define him, as Romans might say. 
An insufferable man for sure, anyway.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He flies through the air with the greatest of ease
but isn’t the man on the flying trapeze.
His colourful costume might give you a clue.
Who is this fine fellow, and what does he do?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This beautiful woman reigned so long ago
she rarely saw rain, and never saw snow.
She’s said to have had a strange beauty regime
and her use of eye liner was pretty extreme.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Was he a man or was he a myth
this man who was outlawed along with his kith?
And did he wear scarlet or did he wear green?
There are legends a-plenty in print and on screen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
With auburn wig and whitened face,
embroidered gowns bedecked with lace,
this lady never shirked her duty
but wasn’t famous for her beauty.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
An outlaw down under may make some folk groan.
Though famous in Oz he’s not more widely known.
Was he a hero or was he a thug?
He finally lies in a grave newly dug.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A dancer of note, one of many fine males,
who sported a top hat, a white tie and tails.
He partnered some pretty girls; picture it now
as they whirl round the floor before taking a bow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The tramp became famous by being a clown.
British by birth he found fame overseas.
Regrettably, politics then brought him down
but his genius survives and continues to please.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
His books have sold millions, I have them myself
but so long to read that they sit on the shelf.
One day I’ll learn what the fuss is about
or just watch the films and try not to pass out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A painter, inventor, a scientist too.
Was there anything he couldn’t do?
He wrote with both hands, even backwards at times,
but I don’t know if he ever wrote any rhymes.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ask yourself when is a ring not a ring:
a question that’s most apposite.
This man became famous in just such a thing,
but was equally known for his wit.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lust: A Short Story.

It was dark as Liz walked down the narrow street that night, the only faint light coming from a crescent moon and the myriad of twinkling stars whose light had traveled across countless aeons.  In this out of the way place, street lights seem to have been considered unnecessary, a luxury.  She  pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, as winter was fast approaching and the air had a distinct chill to it.

There were few people around at this hour and the sound of her own  footsteps sounded sharp and clear on the pavement as she hurried homewards. Liz wouldn't normally be out so late in a strange area, totally unknown to her, but her car had decided that this was a good day to die, and she couldn't call a cab as the battery on her mobile phone had also given up.  If she'd seen a pay phone that was actually working you can bet she'd have used it to get help,  but no such luck.  Isn't that always the way? she thought.

She wasn't afraid; being out alone had never worried her but it was late, and cold, and she just wanted to get home. So when she sensed someone behind her it didn't worry her unduly; actually, she hoped it might be an offer of help, a lift perhaps, the use of a phone, something like that.

As the footsteps drew level she half turned to see who it might be and was quite taken aback.  A young man, or apparently so, long hair, but dressed very snazzily all in black.  Pale yes, but not your usual goth, no, much more dramatic, bohemian one might say. A wide brimmed hat, tilted over one eye, and a cloak of all things!  Who wears a cloak in this day and age? she mused.  An actor perhaps? On his way home from the theatre?  An artist possibly. A poser or eccentric? And is there a difference? Liz chuckled to herself at the thought.

Whoever he was, he was looking at her, quite obviously interested.  Liz was unsure whether or not to speak and so just gave a small smile, friendly but not overly so. Easy does it, she told herself, don't go overboard.

"Ma'am," he intoned, raising his hat with a flourish and bowing low.

Ohhh that voice!  Did she detect a slight trace of an accent?  European, perhaps. And the tone was low, husky, warm. She shivered, briefly. 

"Um, hello," she replied, feeling somewhat tongue-tied.  Awkwardness was radiating from her in waves.  She was not usually shy but this man was different from the usual pathetic creatures she tended to meet.  Romantic without a doubt. And lord knows, she admitted to herself, I'm a sucker for romantics.

"Can I help you in some way?" she went on, hoping against hope that he would say yes.

His face lit up as a lazy smile spread across it, making his eyes crinkle at the corners, and a humorous twinkle positively shone out of them.

Liz's knees were now feeling quite weak.  Yes, no prizes for guessing. She wanted this man. Oh, how she wanted him.


"It is late for you to be out alone, ma'am. May I walk you to your home or wherever you are going? Just to keep away unwanted attention. No strings,"
he assured her, smiling again.

"Why!" she positively simpered, "Yes, you may!"

It was still a good distance to her home and she was unusually impatient.  Not prepared to wait so long, her desire rising by the minute, she halted at the first hotel they came to and, beckoning with her head, invited him to enter with her.

His eyes were now smouldering with desire. She could feel the heat of his body and smell his masculine odour and her mouth was becoming dry as her breathing deepened.

She booked a room from the bored looking desk clerk, took the key he proffered and almost ran up the stairs to the room on the floor above.  Taking  the key from her hand, her handsome would-be defender opened the door. 

Trembling now with anticipation, and licking her dry thirsting lips, Liz entered behind him and looked briefly around the room.  It was simply furnished, but clean.  A bed, a dressing table. a small en suite bathroom.  Good. 

The two stood for a few moments just looking at each other, taking in every detail, then moved closer, mouths meeting, hot, hungry. Breath coming harder now, desire taking over entirely.

After a short time Liz pulled herself away from his lips and ran her hands lightly up his back, then entwined her fingers in his long hair and pulled gently but determinedly downwards until he sank to his knees. He gasped in anticipation, ragged breaths making his chest heave.

Wasting no more time, she bent down, pulled his head back, closed her eyes, and sank her teeth into his now prominent jugular vein....


© 2009
Christine Stromberg

What Are You Doing?

What are you doing to me, my son,
what are you doing, what have you done?
I’m sure you didn’t intend at the start
to break my spirit, break my heart.
To waste your life the way you’ve done,
the life I struggled to give you, son.
Which do I talk to, whom do I mean?
Why either of them, from what I’ve seen.

It’s a tragedy to lose a son,
or so they tell me. At least it’s done.
This daily heartache, this daily pain
goes on too long, again and again.
It’s more than a mother can contemplate.
Was this really always their fate?
They walk in their father’s shoes, it seems,
echo his values, follow his dreams.

To see the way they’ve treated their wives,
to see them living criminal lives,
incarcerated for years and years -
theirs the punishment; mine the tears.
I have no answers, I have no hope.
It’s gone too far, I’ve run out of rope.
Perhaps when I’m dead, when my race is run,
they’ll stop and consider the things they’ve done.


© CS 2015


A Mother's Prayer

My boys, my boys, my lovely boys,
so innocent and sweet,
their whole lives ahead of them,
the world lay at their feet.

All I can do is weep for them,
weep for them and pray:
Oh god take these my copious tears
and use them in some way

to heal their bodies and their minds,
refresh their tainted souls.
May they know once more what life
was like with purer goals.

These tears are now my sacrifice,
they’re all I have to give
to do what nothing else can do
as long as I shall live.

© CS 08/2015

Punctuation Part 4

Dash it all!

 

This time we're looking at dashes, hyphens, parentheses (round brackets) and anything else that doesn't have dots or hasn't already been covered.

Right, now I want you to become a dash hound.

What him? Well of course, although some people call him a dash hound in fact he couldn't dash too quickly if his life depended on it. With those little legs? Oh come on! 

And anyway it's a dachshund (pronounced daks-hundt  - it means badger-dog, bred to unearth badgers). 
But - I'm waffling again. Back to business.  You know very well the kind of dash I'm talking about.

Dashes for Separating.

When two phrases have "and", "or", "but" between them but you also want to indicate a break, you use a dash. It's sharper than the ellipsis (see Part 2). Eg:

Police said the  jogger could be just a friend - or the  murderer himself.
We have to finish the job - and I think we can do it.

It can be used without "and, but, or" as well:

There wasn't anything glamorous about her - she was just a typist in Charlie's office.

Once again this could be two sentences, or you might think of using a semi-colon here, but it has a slightly different effect. A sense of suspense, expectation.

The dash is also used to indicate broken or interrupted speech:

 "I wonder if you could -"
"Anything for you, my dear."

"I don't know what's happened to - I mean, I don't know why he isn't back."

"I - I'm not sure.  He c-could be."

"Lets' just say - " she paused, closing her eyes for a moment. "Let's just say I need him."

Another use is in dates and such like: 1955-1960; March-April 1999; verses 3-6; pages 19-22.

And of course, for replacing letters in words you don't want to write in full:

Those f-ing dogs barked all night. One often sees asterisks or other symbols used in place of the dash in cases like this of course.

Dashes for enclosing

Dashes can be used to enclose a phrase within a sentence in much the same way commas sometimes are, but again, with a sharper break. Eg:

It's embarassing at the moment because everyone in the street - and I do mean everyone - has painted their house.

Did she know - or suspect - more than she was saying?

Again, as with the semi-colon, where there are already commas in the central phrase, use a dash instead of commas to separate it:

I don't believe we can change - overnight, over time, ever - our basic instincts.

Where the second dash comes at the end of a sentence, it is replaced by a period, question mark or some such:

It was lovely to hear from you - when I finally got it open!
When did you last see a doctor - any of you?

Hyphens

A hyphen is a short dash. Now most if us have used a short dash at times. No, not to catch a bus, but to join words.  Words like: tax-free, ex-husband, first-class, and so on.

1) One thing to remember here is that this is only done if the description comes before the noun it's describing. If they come after the noun it isn't neccssary:

It was a first-class performance.
The perfomance was first class.

He's a well-known author.
The artist was well known.

2) Where the two words are (-ed) type adjectives:

middle-aged, simple-minded, and so on, the rule is that it always occurs, whether before or after the noun.

Many of these are now written as one word in any case, eg: kingsized, but not if the words have two vowels in between them, eg: middleaged. That's just too confusing.

3) Most adjectives of the (-ing) type: easy-going, good-looking, etc, and many (-ed) ones :
far-fetched, home-grown, can be written as one word, or have the hyphen.

4) words whuch are made of a verb with -er or -ing,  plus an adverb, are hyphenated:

passer-by, summing-up, but if the verb doesn't end in -er or -ing, the word can be hyphenated:

break-in, follow-up, follow-through, stand-in,
but many are all one word:
breakdown, breakthrough, breakup.

5) compounds which suggest "and". Eg:

bitter-sweet, Anglo-American,  socio-economic.

6) number compounds and suchlike:

twenty-two,  four-fifths, (but note: two thousand, three million).
thirty-odd members,  a two-week-old baby, the seventy-mile-an-hour speed limit.

7) Where the first word is a single letter:

T-shirt, U-turn, X-rated, F-word, X-ray (or x-ray).

8) Some prefixes normally take a hyphen:

ex-wife,  self-appointed, half-truth, quasi-mystical, etc.

It is usual when the prefix precedes a capital letter:
un-American, anti-English, etc  (although these are increasingly being spelled without a hyphen, as all one word)
and to avoid confusion with another word. Eg:
re-form (form again) as opposed to reform ( improve)

Another difference between American and British English has been the use of hyphens to aid in pronunciation:  co-operative, pre-eminent.
This is not used in the US and is becoming less common in the UK now.

9) Two or more hyphenated words may be linked:

pro- and anti-war demonstrators, middle- or old-aged parents, mothers- or fathers-in-law.

Hyphens for word division in poetry.

Hyphens sometimes occur at the ends of lines when a word is broken up across two lines to make the lines of more equal length. This applies to prose rather than poetry of course.  Here are some general rules for doing this:

1) Where there is already a hyphen : self-perpetuating

or where a compound word is joined: micro - analysis (not microan-alysis)

2) After a prefix:

over-simplify
dis-interested

3) Avoid breaking a word where it would lead to confusion:

manu-script (not man-uscript)

shorter words: flower, woman, offer, are best left whole

4) In general, break beween consonants if possible:

elec-tron,  terres-trial, mas-sacre,  pros-perity, etc.

5) Before the ending  "ing"

writ-ing, show-ing, fall-ing, etc
unless there is a doubled consonant before the "ing""
begin-ning, permit-ting, plug-ging, etc.
However, if the word had an "le" before the "ing" was added ( chuckle, wriggle) then break before the l or even one letter before that:

chuck-ling, fond-ling, ramb-ling. puz-zling, etc.

6) Do not divide these groups of letters when they make one syllable:

-ceous,   -geous,
-cious,   -gious,   -tious,  
-cial,     -tial, 
-cian,  -cion,   -gion,   -sion,  -tion.
     

Parentheses or brackets.

These are often called brackets in British English, or round brackets.  They are used to enclose a note that would otherwise ruin the flow of the sentence.  It can be an explanation, an elaboration, an example, identification, justification, or concession, etc. Eg:

Send two observers (who can also vote) to the meeting.
Sprinkle the flour over the meat and add the garlic (cut in half), soy sauce and rosemary.
We (I assume you are with me on this) need to get things moving.
Either that or my (admittedly naive) approach was the problem.


The parentheses can contain an entire sentence with its own punctuation:

Eg: He was hanging out in Greenwich village, in an area populated by jugglers, magicians and other good-natured hustlers.  (It was obviously not real life: no drugs, no beggars, no-one living in a cardboard box.)

Minor uses of parentheses:

1) To mention an abbreviated form of something to be used later in the text:

 The gross national product (GNP) of the country...

2) to give a translation:

It cost about 11 million yen ($77,000)
A typical one weighed about 4600 lb (2086 kg)

3) References to another place in the text:

(p368), (above), (see ch 3) etc.

4) Bibliographical references or details:

In "Dear Me" (Penguin Books, 1977) Peter Ustinov has produced a controversial autobiography, crammed with uproarious stories.

5) References to location etc:

You will find this in reception (inside main entrance) and in the office (third floor).
Contact me (on 0993928) for further details.

6) In references to other works or sections of text:  (cf. Genesis, 9.26)

7) In mathematical formulas, to show groupings:
(a+b) - (c) (x-y)

Other types of bracketing

Brackets [ ] - called square brackets in the UK - are usually used to insert an editorial note to clarify a passage, add missing words, or to replace an unfamiliar expression. Sometimes when the author puts a word or phrase into italics it's useful to point that out by saying: [my italic].

Occasionally you will see [sic] in a text, which is the author's way of saying (in Latin) that it may look odd but it's a direct quote and not a misprint.

There are other types of brackets but they needn't concern us here.

Punctuation Part 3 

 Inverted Commas or Quotation Marks.

Inverted commas are pretty straightforward on the whole.  They go around speeches and can be single: 'Yes' or double: "Yes", especially with regard to what is called the hierarchy of it.  This is another of those things publishers have preferences about.

For example, in Britain a quote within a speech would often be punctuated so:
'You said, "yesterday"?'

In the US, it would be probably be written so:
"You said, 'yesterday'?"

Note (below) how the closing quote marks come after the other punctuation except when a speech is being quoted. See below for this.

If there is a reporting clause (he said, she asked, etc) before the speech, a comma is used before it; if it comes after the speech, a period is replaced by a comma, but question marks and exclamation marks are not. Eg:

Peter smiled and said, "The weather is lovely."
"Yes. Are we going to the park?" his sister asked.
"We may," he replied.
"Great!"

Where the reporting clause comes in the middle of the speech, the first section will end with the comma and closing speech marks, even if the sentence would not normally have a comma there. Eg:
"How long," he asked, "will it take to get there?"

Note that the second section does not start with a capital letter as it is a continuation of the first part. If there were two separate sentences it would look something like this:

"I think about half an hour," she murmured. "Is that ok?"

"How long?" he gasped. "Are you sure?"

A period/full stop and a capital letter shows the end of one sentence (including the reporting clause) and the start of another.

Quotations

This is another place where American Englsih and British English differ, so you are likely to come across both ways.

In American English a final period follows the closing inverted commas of a speech:

One writer suggested that the women "go back to their traditional role of making tea at meetings.".


In British English quotes have punctuation marks outside of the speech marks. It is usual to omit a comma or period inside the inverted commas, where there is a period immediately afterwards:

One firm's motto is "Let the buyer beware".

Sometimes there may be punctuation both inside and outside the speech marks:

One question often seen is "Why does it cost so much?".

In this case, the question mark belongs to the quote, and the period belongs to the whole sentence.

If a speech continues over more than one paragraph, it is customary to put opening speech marks at the beginning of each paragraph, but only use closing speech marks when the speech actually ends.

A very long quote often has no quotation marks at all, but is shown by being indented or perhaps in a smaller or different font.

Minor uses of quotation marks:

1) for a cited word or expression:

What is the difference between a 'grant' and an 'award'?
What do you mean by 'lately'?
The phrase 'to sock it to someone' means putting it bluntly and was used as such by Mark Twain.

Italics can be used instead of "quotation marks" for this.

2) translations, paraphrases and euphemisms:
Literally 'water of life', aqua vitae must be one of the most amusing euphemisms ever invented for hard liquor.



3) 'So-called' expressions:






These are the ones trendy people have taken to making in the air with their fingers when speaking, as a kind of shorthand for actually saying "so-called",  and they work in the same way:

This slogan which originated in the 'permissive' sixties...

In the 'good old days' when my great-grandma walked miles to get to school....

It appears to be acceptable to beg if you are a 'deserving person'.

I should hate to "offend" such "victims" of course.

This use generally indicates sarcasm.


The Inverted Comma as a symbol.
The single and double inverted comma are also used singly to indicate feet and inches: 
I am 5' 1".  I know. Sad isn't it.

In American English feet aren't used of course, just inches.

Punctuation Part 2

Dotty or What?

Just like that little guy above, people can get a little confused and over generous when spreading their dots around.

Punctuation is rather like the musical score of our writing. It reflects the pauses and intonations that we use in speech. The ups and downs, the highs and lows. I expect you know what a question mark is for. Also an exclamation mark.  But what about those colons, semi-colons, ellipses?

Punctuation is really about grammar, of course. The main uses of these marks are to separate, or to enclose, words and phrases. As with commas and apostrophes, it's all about making the meaning clear.

A piece of writing with no punctuation is difficult to make sense of. You might manage, eventually, but even then you can't be sure that the way you have understood it is what the writer meant.  Try this:

Of Russian French and to some extent Ethiopian origin Peter Ustinov was born in London in 1921 and educated at Westminster School during the war he served in the Royal Sussex Regiment and the RAOC familiar to a world wide public as a brilliant playwright versatile actor director set and  costume designer he is an entertainer of wide and diversified talent.

Now try it this way:

Of Russian, French and  - to some extent - Ethiopian origin, Peter Ustinov was born in London in 1921 and educated at Westminster School. During the war he served in the Royal Sussex Regiment and the RAOC. Familiar to a world wide public as a brilliant playwright, versatile actor, director, set and costume designer, he is an entertainer of wide and diversified talent.

Punctuation makes life a whole lot easier.

It is sometimes said that the period - full stop in the UK - and the comma indicate a pause, however short, and normally that is true. But pauses can also be used in speech where no comma occurs in the writing.

As we saw in Part 1 a sentence is constructed, at its most basic, with a verb surrounded by the subject and the object of the verb.  The verb should not be separated from its subject or its object by the use of a comma.

In a long sentence it may be necessary to pause slightly between say, the subject and the verb, for emphasis perhaps, or simply to take a breath!  However, there should not be a comma there to indicate a pause. Take this sentence:

The question that does remain to be discussed concerns notions of political responsibility and ethics.

If you read that aloud you might well pause briefly after the word "discussed" but it would be wrong, grammatically, to have a comma there. This is why:

The question that does remain to be discussed (subject) concerns (verb) notions of political responsibilty and ethics (object). 

As with Part 1, I dont want to get too complicated here. I want to try to keep it simple, which means I won't go into too much detail. Learn the basics and then we can move on if necessary. We'll start with the simplest of dots, the period (US) or full stop (British).

The period or full stop.

This is used for

1) ending a sentence. 

2) to indicate an abbreviation, in names, titles, etc, though this is less common today: Mr. Mrs. etc.

3) in dates where the oblique stroke (slash or solidus) is not used:  6.7.03

4) in Britain, for separating time abbreviations: 9.30 pm
(whereas in the US a colon is generally used:      9:30 pm)

5) between units of money ($4.60)
and also between other numbers as decimal points (3.14159...)

NOTE: If a period is used for an abbreviation at the end of a sentence, use only one.

The ellipsis

Consisting of three periods in a row, and sometimes known as suspension periods, these are the subject of some debate. People have likes and dislikes about using them. However, in general, they are used to:

1) indicate where part of a quotation has been omitted. Eg:

Another alteration is: "...weep and you sleep alone."

2) indicate hesitation or suspense  Eg:

It was the world's worst nuclear accident...yet.
Charles was so...she searched about for the right word...picky!

3) show an indefinite continuation, as in the example of the decimal places above, or indicate words left unsaid at the end of a sentence:

"He's gone," she said.  "I suppose he changed his mind, unless..."  I knew what she meant.

A dash can also fulfill the second of these uses, but tends to indicate a sharper break. See Part 3.

The Question mark

These can be tricky. They are sometimes seen at the end of what is actually a comment, and not a question at all. I can only assume that this has followed the rather irritating use of speaking comments as if they were questions, rising at the end.  For example:
It is correct to use one for "What's the time?" or "You love me, don't you?" but it isn't correct to write: "This is my wife?" when introducing her, or "I'm going to lunch?" as an excuse for going out.

Anyone hearing or reading that sort of thing might reasonably ask: "Don't you know?" or "Why ask me?" Yet it is happening increasingly.

The Exclamation mark

Used for:

1) Exclamations (fairly obviously):  How lovely!

2) questions which are more like exclamations: You wouldn't!  or: Haven't you grown!

3) shock or surprise: I don't believe it! 

4) traditional wishes or curses: Happy Birthday! or: Damn you!

5) warnings or alarms: Look out! or: Go on, shoot him!

6) short sharp phrases (interjections) : Oh no! or: John! or: Hi!

They can appear inside parentheses occasionally to show the writer's surprise at what has been said:  She was even older than me (!) and extremely fat.
Used this way, it's rather like one of those surprised smiley faces.

In informal writing, they can even appear in twos and threes: The things we do for love!!
Or in combination with a question mark: Haven't you fixed that car yet?!

The Colon

Apart from being part of the bowel, a colon is two dots, one above the other ( : )

It is used to:

a) introduce examples, such as an itemised list, as you see here,

b) to introduce one example. 
I only have one child: a daughter.

c) introduce identification.
Today they face a further threat: starvation.

d) to introduce speech.
The Minister was heard to say: "We shall never give up."

e) Some other uses:
As mentioned earlier, colons are used (in the US) for the time;
they are also used to divide chapter and verse when quoting from the bible, eg:   John 3:16

In the US it can be used after the salutation in a letter, as in Dear Sir: 
In Britain a comma would be used here.

A colon can also be found in such places as: 

PS: 
Note: 
Ist Prize:

There are other minor uses but these are not really relevant here.

The semi-colon

This one takes a bit more explaining. That's because we have to get a little bit technical. I'll try to keep it simple though. Ok. Sometimes you want to say two things which are closely connected, but which aren't really part of the same sentence.   Eg:

We can't prove anything; possibly there is nothing to prove.

You could make that into two separate sentences using periods, but they would sound a little abrupt. You could also use "and" or "but" instead of the semi-colon, but which would be correct?
In situations like this, don't sweat it.  Use a semi-colon. 

Another use of the semi-colon is to separate items in a list.  You've already seen in Part 1 how commas are used to do that with words, but the semi-colons separate a list of phrases:

We sit in the car instead of walking; we use the elevator instead of the stairs;  we watch tv instead of going to the gym.

She's a wonderful mother; a great cook; a fantastic lover.

Some of the phrases, or clauses, may have commas in them already, so it would get very confusing to simply add yet more commas between the phrases. That's where the semi-colon comes into its own. Eg:

We saw a range of things laid out on scraps of plastic on the ground: Russian chocolates, curling irons, cutlery, shower nozzles, juice extractors; plus East German fishing rods, a Czechoslovak carpet, a Turkish fire extinguisher.

The semi-colon is like a comma, but more so. More than a comma, but less than a period. Think of it as the Schwarzenegger of commas. Not scary at all when you get to know it.

 Punctuation Part 1

Commas and Apostrophes.

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you what commas are.  That's a picture of one, right?  Well, yes it is, but that isn't the kind of comma I meant.  But all writers know what commas are. They're those pesky little marks, shaped a bit like tadpoles, that you know should go somewhere but you aren't always too sure where. 

Commas are a punctuation mark.  Much poetry today doesn't use much punctuation - line breaks can take the place of commas, for example - but it's handy to know where they should go, just in case you ever need them.

This should give you some idea where to put commas and where not to put them.  I'm also going to talk about apostrophes here. They can get very lost. 

OK.  Let's start at the beginning. Commas are part of Punctuation - oh! how that word can strike terror into the hearts of some poor souls. But fear not! Help is at hand.

Let me say at this the outset, though: I'm not going to use a whole lot of fancy grammatical language here; you can buy books on grammar if you want those. I want to make it easier to understand, not harder, so I won't be airily tossing around phrases like "adverbial finite clauses" or "asyndetically co-ordinated adjectives."   Trust me. 

Punctuation.

Punctuation is all about making what we write easier for the reader to understand. It is used to avoid ambiguity or confusion. That's obvious when talking about question marks or whatever you call  the ? where you live, but some things are less simple to understand, and commas are probably the biggest bugbear.

To start with, take that much used example: Woman without her man is nothing.

That's a very ambiguous phrase; it can mean one of two things, depending on how it's punctuated:

1) Woman, without her man, is nothing.
2) Woman! Without her, man is nothing.

See my point? Two quite opposite meanings.  It's all down to where you put the commas and other punctuation. 

Right, let's move on.

Why we use commas.

Writing is composed of words separated into sentences and phrases.  A sentence almost always contains a verb, the subject of the verb, and the object of the verb. There may also be adjectives, adverbs and other stuff which you can find out about another time. 

Did you notice how I put a comma between the words adjectives and adverbs? We do that when we list things. It makes it clear that it is a list:  I went to the store and bought apples, bananas, rhubarb, potatoes, etc etc.

Also when we use more than one adjective at a time, eg: It was a still, dark, frosty  night.
Now that could be written: It was a still, dark and frosty night.
It could even say: It was a still and dark and frosty night.

So you see what's happening here. The comma, in both those instances, replaces the word and.  In that sentence above you can see there is no comma after adverbs and before and. This is a British convention (as A, B and C). In American convention it is correct use to have yet another comma before the and as well (as A, B, and C),  except in journalism where the British (A, B and C) style is more usual. 

On the whole, American convention allows for the use of many more commas than the British normally use.  This is a matter of style and, as long as your meaning is being made clear, the rules can be regarded as somewhat flexible.  Publishers sometimes have their own house rules regarding style which you would need to follow in order to be published by them.

And or but

Commas are not normally found together with the words and, but, or, especially in a short sentence:

She asked if he wanted a drink but he said no.
I need a drink and something to eat.
Are you going to bed or not?

They can occasionally be found with but, and, or however, in order to emphasise a contrast, or alternatives:
I asked her to tell the chef that I couldn't stand garlic, but that this was no reflection on his cooking.
Nothing like that had been known before, or has been repeated since.

Another use of commas is to separate  off part of a sentence:
When she was able to move, to shake herself free again, she stumbled downstairs. 

The extra, explanatory, bit in the middle is between commas because it really isn't vital to the rest of the sentence. The bits before and after it would make perfect sense without it.

There are cases where putting a comma in allows the reader to pause and take a metaphorical breath, especially if the sentence is a very long one like this, but in shorter sentences it isn't necessary and would be too fiddly.  I didn't feel a comma was necessary before that final and there, but before the but it helped to make reading easier. 

As you can see, using commas very much depends not just on making the meaning clear, but in order to help the reader slow down a little, compose their thoughts. A sentence without any breaks, even if not very long, can be difficult to read - as in the very first example I gave, under the heading Punctuation.

When not to use commas.

This is a much more difficult one to write about, as it could go on indefinitely.  However, in general, the rule goes this way:

Do not put commas where they would break up a sentence into short nonsensical phrases. Look at what you have written, take each bit between the commas separately, and ask yourself whether it makes sense on its own.

Eg:  I am going, to see my mother.

I am going - where? when? It isn't enough on its own.  Neither is: to see my mother. The whole point of that sentence is: going to see; all of those words belong together and shouldn't be separated by anything: I am going to see my mother.

I (subject) am going to see (verb) my mother (object). That is a complete sentence. Without one of those parts it wouldn't be a proper sentence and the parts can't be separated, even by a comma.

It would be different if someone asks the question: "Where are you going?" and the reply is just "To see my mother," because in informal speech we do say things like that, but it isn't good grammar.

I see many examples like this, too many to list them here, but if anyone having a problem with this takes that rule of thumb and applies it, it should improve things considerably.

Now there you see me using the comma another way, putting one between it and it. Without the comma the sentence would be confusing, even though  - strictly speaking - the sense follows on.

Again, it's about making the meaning clear to the reader. And if you don't do that, there is little point in writing.

Apostrophes.

I'm going to move on now to apostrophes, which are simpy elevated commas.  And they sometimes work in a similar way to commas, but whereas commas can replace the word and, apostrophes replace missing letters when two words are shortened to one word.

Contraction

We all use contractions like: isn't (is not) can't (can not) and so on, and we understand that the apostrophe replaces the letters we've left out (there's another one - and another!)

Possesssion

Ok, so that's one use of them. Another is to imply possession.  Possession can be described by using the word of: That man of mine, the House of Usher, but another way is to use  ('s) (an apostrophe plus the letter s) to show possession: The bag is Sarah's.  It is John's paper. And so on.

The same thing happens with plurals that are formed by a change of ending instead of using the letter s: The children's books, women's rights.

What happens though when the one doing the possessing is a plural ending with the letter s?  You might expect to do the same thing: My parents's house.

But of course we don't usuallydo that; it looks and sounds clumsy.  So we drop the final letter s  but leave the apostrophe after the first one: My parents' house, the voters' decision, two years' imprisonment.  We can use this method to say "for goodness' sake",  though here the apostrophe is often omitted altogther.

If the subject is singular but ends with the letter s we normally add es to the word instead of using an apostrophe at all, but in the case of proper names it's more usual to use an apostrophe, as in: Mrs Jones's house, Dickens's novels, though increasingly the final s is omitted here too.  There is some disagreement over this issue.

Where a name already has two s letters, it is considered rather unpronouncable to add yet another (try saying Moses's), so we get: Moses' journeys,  Jesus' teachings.  You will also see this done with ancient Greek names of more than one syllable: Socrates' death, Aristophanes' character.  It's just easier that way.

It would be correct, if a little clumsy, to use the ('s) in such phrases as: the boy in the corner's jeans, the man in the street's views, but it's probably better to rephrase something like that using of to sound less awkward: the view of the man in the street. After all, the corner doesn't have jeans. Well, not usually.  And the views of the street are not the sort under discussion.

With more than one person the ('s) is added to the second or last one:
John and Martha's wedding, my uncle and aunt's trip to Europe.

Although we use ('s) for such things as: going to the dentist's, I'll see you at Betty's, for large companies, household names,  it is usual to omit the apostrophe:  We shopped at Harrods, we went to Bloomingdales.

Plurals of Letters, etc:
We can add apostrophes to avoid confusion when making some plurals such as: Mind your P's and Q's, but where there is no confusion likely it isn't necessary: in the 1980s, the three Rs.

Its v It's. 

Now we come to the most vexed used of ('s); the one that gives most trouble. It's the word its.
It's, with an apostrophe, is always the contraction of the words it is or it has.  That is its only use.
Its, without an apostrophe, means: belonging to it. 

Now after all I've said about ('s), why in this case is it different? I'll explain.

We have these words called possessive pronouns: my, your, his, her, our, their, and the other one: it.  A pronoun is a word used instead of a name. I could say: "It is Sarah's" but instead of always using her name, I can say "It is hers." The word "her" is standing in for "Sarah" it is for, or pro, Sarah. Pro the noun, a pronoun. The possessive bit means it also tells you that something belongs to that person or thing. It's obvious really.

None of these possessive pronouns take an ('s). Let me repeat that. NONE of these take ('s).

So my becomes mine:  it is my car, becomes: the car is mine
Do the same with these:
your becomes yours, his stays as his (don't ask; it's one of those things), her becomes hers, our becomes ours, their becomes theirs,  and it - you've guessed it! It becomes its. No apostrophe. See? Easy.

Eg:  It's a sad thing when a dog loses its tail. It's even sadder when it loses its mind.

The more indefinite pronouns however, like someone, anybody, use ('s) as normal: it must be somebody's fault, it isn't anyone's fault.

Your v You're

This is another place where the apostrophe can sneak in uninvited.
Your means belonging to you: It is your right to be here.
You're is simply a contraction of You are.

The big no-noAnd the big - huge - enormous no-no is using ('s) to make a noun plural. Never, NEVER use ('s) except for a contraction, or for possession.

People selling produce may write about caulie's - it's a contraction, letters are missing -  but they should never, ever, say caulifower's, unless to say "the cauliflower's stalk" or something. The plural of cauliflower is cauliflowers. Just that.

For some glaring examples of apostrophes being misused, see:

http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/examples.htm


Oh, and the reason the butterfly is called a comma? It has two white marks on the undersides of its rear wings, shaped like commas.