Punctuate this!

[Grenage]

An odd request, but due to an argument in the office (you would not believe how heated they can become, over the simplest disagreement), how would you punctuate the following text?

yes we have no bananas we have no bananas today



Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[KenCunningham]

Personally:

Yes, we have no bananas, we have no bananas today.



I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[Grenage]

I actually put:

Yes, we have no bananas; we have no bananas, today.

I'm starting to doubt myself heavily...


Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[KenCunningham]

It depends on how long you want the pause to be I guess.

I want to be good, is that not enough?

 

[Thadeus]

Well the sheet music reads:
Yes We have no bananas! We have no bananas Today!

...and the 1930 animated short was titled:
Yes! We Have No Bananas

I like your use of the semicolon in this situation, but I always defer to those around me regarding what is actually correct. I never had the inclination to learn every nuance of rule and style.

~Thadeus

 

[CajunCenturion]

The semi-colon is correct. Whenever two independent clauses -- (Yes, we have no bananas) and (we have no bananas today) -- are being joined without a conjunction, a semi-colon should be used.

Switch
1 Sentence: Yes, we have no bananas; we have no bananas today.
2 Sentences: Yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today.
3 Sentences: Yes. We have no bananas. We have no bananas today.

I agree with Thadeus, an exclamation point may be used instead of any period in any of the above options.


--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[Grenage]

Thank you very much for clarifying. No comma on the end, then. Not quite sure why I thought there should be, it just seemed right at the time.

Thanks again!

Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I wouldn't say that a comma before 'today' would be wrong, but I personally don't see the need to have one.

--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[Grenage]

Well I wasn't including it for the purpose of a delay, so I'll just have to go and whip myself.

Looking at the sentence, I can't see a need for it either. I guess that's a problem when you are making a deliberate effort to punctuate correctly, you might see things that aren't there.

Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[SantaMufasa]

As usual/always, CC is correct. But, there are a total of five accepted methods of punctuating two independent, related clauses, "A" and "B":

1. "A. B.": Yes, we have no bananas. We have no bananas today.

2. "A; b." Yes, we have no bananas; we have no bananas today.

3. "A -- b." Yes, we have no bananas -- we have no bananas today.

4. "A: b." Yes, we have no bananas: we have no bananas today.

5. "A (b)." Yes, we have no bananas (we have no bananas today).

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[snuv]

Yes. We have no bananas. We have no bananas today.

I agree with Thadeus, an exclamation point may be used instead of any period in any of the above options.

I was always told to use a full stop if the sentence contains a subject and a verb, otherwise, use an exclamation mark.

Therefore
"Yes" should be followed with "!"
both of the other two sentences should followed with "."

Have I been wrong for the last "some" decades?

Cheers
Snuv


"If it could have gone wrong earlier and it didn't, it ultimately would have been beneficial for it to have." : Murphy's Ultimate Corollary

 

[SantaMufasa]

I was always told to use a full stop if the sentence contains a subject and a verb, otherwise, use an exclamation mark.

What? <grin>


I was always told to avoid the use of "always", since all it takes is one exception to negate the reliability of "always" (or "never").

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)
[I provide low-cost, remote Database Administration services: www.dasages.com]

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
To Wit:

"All generalizations are wrong, including this one"







To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> Have I been wrong for the last "some" decades?
If that's what your teacher told you do to, then you were not wrong in doing just that.

However, any sentence may be terminated with an exclamation point to show surprise, shock, or any exclamatory emotion. (Hence, the exclamation point ) Nor is the exclamation point needed -- a period/full stop is just fine -- on simple declarative statements, even if either the subject or verb is implied.


--------------
Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[Olaf Doschke]

What? <grin>

What?! <grin>

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Yes?! We have no bananas?! We have no bananas today...

 

[gbaughma]

Reminds me of a joke my dad told me years ago;

Punctuate the following:

Fun fun fun trouble trouble trouble

The answer being:

Fun <period> Fun <period> Fun <no period> TROUBLE! TROUBLE! TROUBLE!

;-)



Just my 2¢
-ARRGH! All my clothes are wrinkled! Oh, the irony!

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[gbaughma]

Damn. How to kill a thread in 3 seconds flat.



Just my 2¢
-ARRGH! All my clothes are wrinkled! Oh, the irony!

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[Grenage]

It's funny, but you've mentioned it before. /wink

Carlsberg don't run I.T departments, but if they did they'd probably be more fun.

 

[philhege]

There goes Grenage, using his mnemonic tricks from the other thread.

/I remembered it too; good jokes stick around