And the results are in! Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll on the most annoying punctuation mark. For several days, the comma had the clear lead, but then the semi-colon pulled up from behind, until they were neck and neck for a final finish! Here are the results:
Comma: 41%
Semi-Colon: 38%
Hyphen: 21%
Some of you also pointed your fingers at other punctuation marks, like the ellipsis, the colon, and quotes. (And then there were those of us who freely admitted to abusing the exclamation mark!)
Thank you for all your comments and suggestions. I will now be retreating to my writerly cave for a little while to plan out this series, which will likely start with the comma. I look forward to the challenge of making punctuation rules entertaining!
Yours in punctuation angst,
Sue
Doorway Between Worlds 
That comma–always wanting to be the center of attention. 🙂
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Yes, it’s such a hog! 🙂
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I’m really looking forward to this series. I was going to write something pithy, but I’m going cold turkey and I’m afraid of what might happen if I interject oo much 😉
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You’re right, we can’t have that. 😉 Glad you’re looking forward to it. On to writing it…
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Let’s hear it for the commas, because I can’t write a sentence without one. 🙂
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Sentences with commas are my favourites, too. 🙂 Can you imagine what it would be like to write a page entirely without commas? Yikes!
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Ha, ha, there would be unintentional hilarity, for sure. 🙂
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I feel bad for all those commas. I’ll adopt them all.
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You are such a kindhearted soul! 🙂
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Super excited to see where the comma takes us… though quotes would be interesting too, at some point. Particularly when dealing with Australian single quotes vs. double, and quotes inside quotes for that kind… as well as whether to use quotes when writing ‘thoughts.’
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Yes, those single vs. double quotes can be challenging! I’m going to try to bring some international aspects of usage into here – it’s fascinating how stylistic conventions for English have developed so differently across the world.
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Fun. If I had voted it would have been the over used explanation mark. It drives me mad!
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I know what you mean, Rhonda!! 😉
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It never fails – not only do I find writerly wisdom by the bucketful here, Sue, but I laugh my way through it. And somehow, the humor imprints your lovely lessons down to the cellular level.
So looking forward to the series.
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Thanks so much, Shelley!
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Thought u might like this:
“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semi-colons They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college” – Kurt Vonnegut.
http://bradscribe.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/quite-a-prize/
Cheers!
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Interesting quote, Brad – I hadn’t heard of that one.
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