The Colbert Factor: How Punctuation Marks Can Put Meaning Back Into The Anglophone Conflict
By Colbert Gwain This reflection is inspired by the fact that far from being a boring and remorseful assemblage of dots and dashes, (just like the five-year prolonged Anglophone conflict), punctuation is so rich a field for the study of human nature that many readers could be so barren to realize. Historically, punctuation marks and/or their absence thereof; have caused and/or stopped wars. Illustrations of punctuation that can cause war do not come in short supply. Come to think of a Commander giving the following instruction to soldiers at the battle front: 'Stop not, fight.' There can be no doubt in any soldier's mind that they have been charged to intensify the onslaught on the enemy. Now, consider that the commanding Officer gave the order in another way: 'Stop, not fight'. The shuffling of the position of the comma from after 'not', to before 'stop', would automatically stop the intended onslaught thereby ending a conflict. In plain, simple ter