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Discussion » Questions » Education » Which punctuation symbol(s) is/are poorly taught, or poorly understood, or poorly used? (The list below is not all-inclusive.)

Which punctuation symbol(s) is/are poorly taught, or poorly understood, or poorly used? (The list below is not all-inclusive.)

 

1. The comma

1a. The Oxford comma

2.  The apostrophe

3.  The colon

3a.  The semicolon

4.  The dash

4a. The hyphen

5. The diagonal slash

6. The parentheses

6a. The brackets

7.  The ampersand

8.  The quotation marks

9.  The exclamation point

10.  The asterisk

11.  The question mark

12.  The tilde (tread very carefully here)

13.  Other that is not listed here

~

Posted - July 26, 2020

Responses


  • 6988
    When Randy goes to a county fair, he rides the 'Tilde-a-Whirl.'  
      July 26, 2020 3:01 PM MDT
    4

  • 52931

     

      You say it as if it’s a bad thing. Grrrrrrr.

    ~

      July 26, 2020 3:25 PM MDT
    3

  • 22904
    Ha!!
    Lol!!
    :)
      July 26, 2020 6:54 PM MDT
    1

  • 13257
    1. 1a. The Oxford comma.

    The comma and the hyphen. But I wonder, can doctors perform a semi-colonoscopy?
      July 26, 2020 3:29 PM MDT
    2

  • 44224
    Yes...it's called a 'resection'. Don't you watch doctor shows?
    What is an Oxford comma? British accent mark? This post was edited by Element 99 at July 26, 2020 6:58 PM MDT
      July 26, 2020 5:38 PM MDT
    2

  • 13257
    It's the comma after the penultimate object in a series, eg "the letters a, b, and c." The Oxford comma is the one after b in my example. This post was edited by Stu Spelling Bee at July 26, 2020 7:14 PM MDT
      July 26, 2020 6:42 PM MDT
    2

  • 10465
    13. Just the ones in the area between the esc key and the right ctrl key
      July 26, 2020 4:45 PM MDT
    3

  • 44224
    Other. For some folks, all of them. Especially many students.
      July 26, 2020 5:36 PM MDT
    3

  • 52931

     

     13. 

      July 26, 2020 5:48 PM MDT
    3

  • 44224
    13, shmerteen.
      July 26, 2020 5:55 PM MDT
    3

  • 13257
    shmerteen shmirteen
      July 26, 2020 6:42 PM MDT
    1

  • 3a. I know few people who can properly use a semicolon; it disappoints me. 
      July 26, 2020 11:40 PM MDT
    1

  • 52931

     

      Tell them this:




    ~

      July 28, 2020 10:15 PM MDT
    1