our Rule 8 of Commas says, “Use commas to set off the name, nickname, term of endearment, or title of a person directly addressed.” Therefore, we would write: Good Morning, Mary. However, it is also acceptable to write Good morning, Mary. Good practice is to decide on a style and be consistent.

Formal application of punctuation with a salutation that doesn’t include an opening adjective (e.g., Dear Sir) would call for a comma preceding the person’s name as a proper form of address (e.g., Good afternoon, George). Whether to follow the name with a comma or a colon would be determined by the relationship’s context: Good afternoon, George, (comma for familiar) Good afternoon, George: (colon for formal) At the same time, you are correct in observing that current communication often omits the salutatory comma of address, particularly for shorter greetings (e.g., Hi Erik). This is becoming more common and acceptable, and it would be a matter of writer’s preference. You would be correct writing either Hi Erik or Hi, Erik. We would advise keeping the comma for longer or phrasal greetings such as Good afternoon, George.

Gänsefüßchen

Go, Philostrate, Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments; Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth; Turn melancholy forth to funerals; The pale companion is not for our pomp.

Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments; Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth; Turn melancholy forth to funerals; The pale companion is not for our pomp. [Exit Philostrate.] Hippolyta, I woo’d thee with my sword, And won thy love doing thee injuries; But I will wed thee in another key, With pomp, with triumph, and with revelling.

I very much agree with you that the “American” practice of forcing punctuation inside a close quote is absurd.

—n

—The good not done, the love not given, time Torn off unused—

non-surface-apparent opacity

Note: Yes, it is sentence case, and yes, there should be a full stop if it was true sentence case — but for the love of all things good and designy, please don’t add a full stop.

their—the

–

he Romans (c. 1st century BC) also occasionally used symbols to indicate pauses

In addition, the Greeks used the paragraphos (or gamma) to mark the beginning of sentences, marginal diples to mark quotations, and a koronis to indicate the end of major sections.

the Greeks were sporadically using punctuation marks consisting of vertically arranged dots—usually two (dicolon) or three (tricolon)—in around the 5th century BC as an aid in the oral delivery of texts.

The earliest alphabetic writing — Phoenician, Hebrew, and others of the same family — had no capitalization, no spaces, no vowels (see abjad) and few punctuation marks.

Ancient Chinese classical texts were transmitted without punctuation.

The oldest known document using punctuation is the Mesha Stele (9

The first writing systems were either logographic or syllabic

The rules of punctuation vary with language, location, register, and time and are constantly evolving.

In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences.

Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud.

grammar : a punctuation mark — that is used especially to indicate a break in the thought or structure of a sentence

.

“Gran! Gran!” Her little grandson stood on her lap in his button boots. He’d just come in from playing in the street. “Look what a state you’ve made your gran’s skirt into—you wicked boy!” But he put his arms round her neck and rubbed his cheek against hers. “Gran, gi’ us a penny!” he coaxed. “Be off with you; Gran ain’t got no pennies.” “Yes, you ‘ave.” “No, I ain’t.” “Yes, you ‘ave. Gi’ us one!” Already she was feeling for the old, squashed, black leather purse. “Well, what’ll you give your gran?” He gave a shy little laugh and pressed closer. She felt his eyelid quivering against her cheek. “I ain’t got nothing,” he murmured...

was-- strength

vessel--the

--my hair stood on end:--

I no longer loved--Oh! no, I adored--worshipped--idolized her!

xtinction,

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I have to say he is right, not many people examine the currency and the negative effects of constant debasement by the Bank of Canada.