Sunday, March 7, 2010

Punctuation

Last Wednesday, I came across a public notice in an outlying district of the Isle of Lewis, where I reside. There was one comma missing in the first paragraph of the message from the Grazings Clerk, which threatened to render it unintelligible.

I read the first paragraph as:

ANY SHAREHOLDER WHO WISHES TO CAN PUT THERE SHEEP INTO THE AIRD PARK FROM NOW UNTIL END FEBRUARY/BEGINNING MARCH 2010. 

which should of course contain a comma after TO.

A better phrase would have run: 
"Any shareholder who wishes to put their sheep into the Aird Park can do so from now ... "

And yes, "there" should of course have been spelled "their", but that did not prompt me to take the photograph.

6 comments:

Big Mark 243 said...

Interseting. What I do wonder, especially when I am making a journal entry, is when is it appropriate to use two commas in one sentence?

ADB said...

@BigMark243 It is not so much the two commas that matter, but their location in the sentence. Interesting question though, will give it thought for a new entry on here.

Nance said...

I am almost too charmed by the notion of life on the Isle of Lewis and those grazing sheep to think seriously about comma placement. Putting my mind to it, however, I found myself lost more than once by the poster. I'm curious whether sheep will be found grazing at the proper time and in the proper place. Follow up, please!

Lori said...

That's rather funny. It would have bothered me too. I have had my own pet peeves regarding commas, whether it's a matter of too few, too many, or incorrect placemnet. I think it's neat that there is a position known as "Grazing Clerk".

Lori said...

That should be "placement." :/

ADB said...

I think I'm just a bit late in finding this notice. Lambing is starting in the next week or so - and I don't know where the Aird Park is.

Don't forget that for many people in Lewis, English is a second language; their mother tongue is (Scots) Gaelic. The grammatical differences between the two languages are huge and show up in the poster.

A grazings clerk is a very important person. Twice, I've had to report injured sheep to the police, and twice they had to go to the grazings clerk to report the matter on. They will then contact the crofter concerned.

Will post on Atlantic Lines about these matters.