Let’s get grammatical! Have you ever thought about punctuation and how it helps save lives? For example, the difference between “Let’s eat Grandma!” and “Let’s eat, Grandma!” makes a really big difference! One is cannibalism, the other a friendly invitation to dinner!
In this episode, we look at some hilarious comma fails (like those concerning grandmothers), some infrequently used, but potentially very useful, punctuation marks (question exclamation point, anyone?!), and how punctuation came to be. Did you know there used to be no punctuation at all, not even spaces between words? Talk about confusing! Finally, we see how other languages use punctuation symbols differently. For example, in Greek the “;” symbol is used for a question, and in Chinese a sentence is ended with an open circle.
For Language News, we learn about how some mistranslations can have serious consequences, from Cold War fear based on a mistranslation to the struggles of modern translators to translate for President Trump without creating heat. Read more about the article we read here.
Check out some more of the resources we used!
Buzzfeed’s list of unfortunate comma fails
The Mysterious Origins of Punctuation
Punctuation marks from other languages
A huge thanks to Jenny for telling us a highly inappropriate tale of when her father tried to borrow a wheelbarrow and asked for something very different in French. To submit your Lost in Translation moment, head on over to our contact section where you can record your voice and be featured in our next episode!
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