Happy National Punctuation Day!

Yes, today is September 24th, and an important national celebration.

Join me today in honoring the exciting exclamation point! And where would we be without the question mark? I personally love the semi-colon; they create a beautifully balanced sentence. Don't forget the colon and the nine most important comma rules: commas in a series, commas between two adjectives that precede a noun, and commas to separate the simple sentences in a compound sentence. Don't forget to use commas after words, phrases and clauses that begin a sentence; use commas to separate interrupters such as parenthetical expressions, direct addresses, and unnecessary appositives in a sentence. Of course, we use commas to separate the the month and day from the year; after greetings in a friendly letter; please use commas with quotation marks to set off what is being said out loud.

"So, it looks like you can also use semi-colons to separate items in a series, right, Fletcher?"

"Why, yes, that is true. Use semi-colons when the items in the series are lengthy, or already contain punctuation."

Punctuation marks are the little unsung heroes of the English language: small, unassuming, and so very busy. They serve us faithfully to create voice, rhythm and style.

Take your favorite punctuation mark out to dinner. They work hard for us all year; let's acknowledge them today.