Geeking Out with Punctuation

On Twitter, @GrammarGirl tweeted a link to a CollegeHumor video about a punctuation recession. It was a cute idea for a satire, but I found it a bit self-indulgent, and too far removed from reality. Believe me, there’s plenty of actual stuff happening in this economy worth satirizing.

Still, it reminded me of my favorite punctuation-related idea (besides National Punctuation Day or anything on Etsy featuring punctuation). I’d love to attempt this improv/Whose Line is it Anyway?-esque party idea. Who’s with me?

A Punctuation Party

A “writer” station at the door writes boldly on every party goer’s white T-Shirt a punctuation symbol. The person, no matter what his or her punctuation symbol, must act as it would in a sentence. For example, a person with…

  • An exclamation point would be incredulous! At all times! Chug!

  • A period would tell it how it is. Clear statements, no room for confusion. Period.

  • With three periods would ramble on and trail off in every possible conversational activity. It would be their job to go on and on and on by telling fake stories, making noises, mumbling …

  • A question mark would formulate everything in a questionable way? Both questions, but also questionable comments? Pick up lines?

  • For those that the “writer” at the door deems capable, he or she should emblazon a colon, semicolon, or hyphen onto the unlucky partygoer. And don’t forget about the possibilities of Spanish symbols!

I’m sorry I can’t give credit or link to the URL where I found this, even after much googling. I know I found it on Sept. 25, 2008. If you can track down the site, please send it to me. Apologies to the creator(s) (whose work I did not edit so that it would be easier to find).