Friday, August 25, 2006

navigation:punctuation?

Though I realize that my analogy may not be completely valid, it nonetheless seems perfectly reasonable to me to say that anyone who can negotiate the complexities of getting around efficiently in a place such as Los Angeles certainly has the native intelligence to learn to punctuate. . . . The whole question is one of motivation.

--W. Ross Winterowd, Contemporary Rhetoric 23 (1975).

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Amen"!?.,

Anonymous said...

Pretty witty, Don! :-)

Anonymous said...

Are we reading a book on grammar perhaps? Hmmm I sometimes lack the intelligence to punctuate...perhaps I should stay away from Las Angeles?

Anonymous said...

The traffic in L.A. is the sole reason for our family moving.

Just kidding, of course.

Anonymous said...

I mean Los, not Las...see what I mean? I wasn't even attempting to be clever or ironic.

Emily said...

What I want to know is -- what about the people who can't navigate LA but are okay with punctuation? Do they have any native intelligence?

Anonymous said...

Those who have the native intelligence to punctuate will in most cases stay away from cities such as LA and build cities in places where navigation is simple and rational because of a more conducive geography