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Punctuation Matters: 'Dear John'
Letter and a 2-Million-Dollar Comma
Richard
Nordquist is a freelance writer and former professor of English and Rhetoric
who wrote college-level Grammar and Composition textbooks.
Updated
February 05, 2019
So, fellow
texters and tweeters, are you convinced that punctuation is unimportant—that commas, colons, and similar squiggles are just pesky
reminders of a bygone era?
If so, here are
two cautionary tales that just may change your mind.
What Love Is All About
Our first tale
is a romantic one—or so it may appear. The story begins with an email that John received one day from his new
girlfriend. Consider how pleased he must have felt to read this note from Jane:
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy—will you let me be yours? Jane
Unfortunately,
John was far from pleased. In fact, he was heartbroken. You see, John was
familiar with Jane's peculiar ways of misusing punctuation marks. And so to
decipher the true meaning of her email, he had to re-read it with the marks
altered:
Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours, Jane
This old grammarian's joke was made up, of course. But our
second story really happened—in Canada, not so long ago.
Cost of a Misplaced Comma: $2.13 Million
If you happen
to work in the legal division of Rogers Communications Inc., you've already
learned the lesson that punctuation matters. According to Toronto's Globe
and Mail for August 6, 2006, a misplaced comma in a contract to string
cable lines along utility poles may cost the Canadian company a whopping $2.13
million.
Back in 2002,
when the company signed off on a contract with Aliant Inc., the folks at Rogers
were confident that they had locked up a long-term agreement. They were
surprised, therefore, when in early 2005 Aliant gave notice of a hefty
rate-hike—and even more surprised when regulators with the Canadian
Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) backed their claim.
It's all right
there on page seven of the contract, where it states that the agreement
"shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is
made, and thereafter for successive five-year terms, unless and until
terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.”
The devil is in
the details—or, more specifically, in the second comma. “Based on the rules of
punctuation,” observed the CRTC regulators, the comma in question “allows for
the termination of the [contract] at any time, without cause, upon one-year's
written notice.”
We'd explain the issue simply by pointing
to principle #4 at our page on the Top Four Guidelines for Using Commas Effectively:
use a pair of commas to set off interrupting words, phrases, or clauses.
Without that
second comma after "successive five-year claims," the business about
terminating the contract would apply only to successive terms, which is what
Rogers' lawyers thought they were agreeing to. However, with the addition of
the comma, the phrase "and thereafter for successive five-year terms"
is treated as an interruption.
Certainly,
that's how Aliant treated it. They didn't wait for that first "period of
five years" to expire before giving notice of the rate hike, and thanks to
the extra comma, they didn't have to.
“This is a
classic case of where the placement of a comma has great importance,” Aliant
said. Indeed.
Postscript
In "Comma
Law," an article that appeared in LawNow on March 6, 2014, Peter
Bowal and Johnathon Layton reported the rest of the story:
Rogers Communications proved that its
intended meaning in the subject contract clause was affirmed when the French
version of the agreement was invoked. However, while it won that battle, Rogers
ultimately lost the war and had to pay the price increase and hefty legal fees.
Sure,
punctuation is picky stuff, but you never know when it's going to make a big
difference.
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The following
events, industries, causes and emotions (yes, emotions) are observed all month
long in April unless otherwise indicated. Even cannabis (fast becoming
legalized), Florida tomatoes, celery, and soft pretzels are honored,
beginning April 1 through April 30—every year.
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International and One-Day Observances
Because you may
be in the business of working with internationals, we can not forget the
participation of other countries. Here are a few international honorees, as
well as some causes that are observed globally:
- April is International Guitar Month, recognized in several countries.
- Ontario, Canada recognizes April as Sikh Heritage Month.
- April is National Pet Month in the United Kingdom, although the U.S. waits until May to honor Postsits non-human family members.
- International Pillow Fight Day is observed on April 6 in 2019.
- World Autism Awareness Day also falls on April 2 in 2019.
- World Health Day is April 7, in 2019.
