Book Review - Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Punctuation is rapidly being lost in the storm of today's texting, e-mails, World Wide Web, and even the traditional book. This bothers Lynn Truss, the author of this delightful little book.

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves she shows the importance of a well placed comma. There is a rhyme and reason for the rules of grammar and punctuation, and she shows us the why and wherefore thereof. Not only does she share various rules of punctuation, she also tells the history of said punctuation, and how applicable it is to today's society.

As for my own opinion of this book, I thought it was pretty good. I did learn quite a bit, but it may or may not be obvious from the punctuation in this review. Lynn Truss presents her opposition to sloppy writing in a funny, yet informative way that keeps you reading.

This book does contain a sprinkling of adult language, so be warned. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to others.

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© 2009 Defective Compositions

Englishese ~ Part 1

I have for a long time thought certain things about words were odd and strange. Many of you have probably had questions about weird names and how they could have come about, why there are so many words for one meaning, making english hard to understand, and crazy spellings that don't make it any easier.

Weird Names

Have you wondered why certain things have the names that they do? Did you stop to think, "Who on earth named it that? What were they thinking?" for instance animal manure.

Horses have road APPLES,

Bison have buffalo CHIPS,

Cattle have cow PIES, and

Goats have nanny BERRIES!

Isn't that odd?Why would anyone want to name manure after food? It's enough to lose your appitite!

How about words that name something they arn't? There is no dog in a hot dog, no ham in a hamburger, sweet meats don't have meat, it's candy, and sweet breads are not sweet and they don't have any bread, It's meat!

Some words are just a mistake in hearing. The Pennsylvania Dutch are not Dutch, They are German. Deutsch is the German word for German, but when someone heard it they mistook it to mean they were Dutch.
I can understand the Dutch, But I can't understand the manure. Were they hoping to trick someone into thinking it was more pleasant that it really is?