Supporting players
against a sea of commas,
exclamation points,
and other heroes of the written word,
These quiet champions
of our language get the spotlight
thanks to Keith Huston’s
Meticulous research and witty pen.
Like gentle pilcrow,
Who started as “kaput”
Then changed to “c”
To mark the start of each new paragraph.
‘Til rubricators
came along to flourish her:
thus, the backwards P
was born.
Live on, Pilcrow, in proofers’ marks
and MS Word, though hidden as you are
behind your secret key.
Dear interrobang,
Product of Madison Ave.
Why employ two strokes
A ! and ? when one is so much swifter?
Are you required?
How else can we determine
Whether Columbus meant
“Land, ho?” a question or “Land, ho!” excitement?
Where are you on my keyboard?
Why must I hunt for you
among the glyphs?
Brazen octothorpe
(not just a CBR reviewer),
You go by many names:
number, pound, or hash, pigpen or hex.
How did you come to be?
Houston claims that sloppy scribes
helped evolve your shape
from lb to lb to #, more mystery still
In that quirky name.
Regardless, life has changed for you
In this internet age.
Manicule, my fave!
I love your jaunty jab
of fingers as you point out
curious facts or quotes or study aids.
Once a hand-drawn thing
adored by scribes and scholars
to mark their margins,
today you are a novelty, adding whim
And whimsy to a page
or advertising, “Drive thru this way!”
So many more to learn:
The dashs, both em and en and
other sizes in between
Driving grammarians mad when poorly used.
Faithful asterisk
and dagger, ampersand and @
quotation marks and their
long history. So much to say, so much to learn,
So much to praise within
this glorious book for grammar nerds
and typographists alike.
No irony here.
P.S. from reviewer: I really liked this book. Read it.
