Punctuation Matters

rogersgeorge on August 20th, 2020

I think I mentioned this topic before. Here’s another good example of how punctuation can change the meaning of a phrase.

Off the Mark Comic Strip for June 18, 2020 — https://www.gocomics.com/offthemark/2020/06/18

As written in the comic, you have a compound phrase about the two things that the person is doing. The original is “downward-facing dog.” “Downward-facing” is a compound adjective describing “dog.”

So the punctuation makes the joke!

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Rogers George has been a technical writer for more than 20 years. He has written on subjects as diverse as outhouse assembly, restaurant reviews, software, information security, and scientific equipment. He has his own writing consultancy and is always happy to discuss writing and grammar. Drop him a line at curmudgeon@writing-rag.com.

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