For all of you who rejoiced at the publication of Lynne Truss's best-seller, 'Eats, Shoots & Leaves', an unashamed rant on the state of punctuation these days, you'll be thrilled to know there's the perfect companion book to test out whether you're actually as much of a grammatical pedant as you thought you were...
Claire Dignall, with an introduction by Truss herself, has written a witty workbook named 'Can You Eat, Shoot & Leave?', designed to give punctuation sticklers and baffled novices alike the ultimate linguistic workout. Here's a few teaser questions, designed to flex your punctuation muscle...
Add it's or its to the following:
A ______ not over 'til the fat lady sings.
B The dog has had ______ day.
Add commas to change the meaning:
A Teenagers who wear hoodies are a bit scary.
B Chocolate cake which slices neatly is just no fun.
C The badger which has endearing habits should be better protected.
What's wrong with the following?
Any man, that knows a bit of DIY, could tell you how to grout a bathroom.
But fear not, after your workout follows a full demonstration of just how it should be done. Each chapter focuses on one type of punctuation mark, from apostrophes and colons to hyphens and brackets, and is followed by an exercise (and a full answer key!) to see how much you having been paying attention. You'll be punctuating like a pro in no time.
We have five copies of the book to give away, so if you fancy refining your skills, send your name and address to easyliving.lifestyle@condenast.co.uk before Friday October 14 for a chance to win! And please, no comments on my own punctuation skills...
Source: http://www.easyliving.co.uk/blog/news/can-you-eat-shoot-and-leave
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