"A hit, a very palpable hit"

I am wounded!  Dammit, all these years I have been spending money on my Spectator subscriptions and all they do is poke fun at me!  And if you are wondering how they do that, then just look hard at the very last item at the end of my first sentence, I have emboldened it and italicised it to help you find it.  Yes, there it is, another of those damned exclamation marks!  (Oh sod it, there's another one!  (Ooops, and another!)

I had better explain.  Regular readers will know that I am haunted by the shade of Miss Woods, Eng. Lit. & Lang., circa 1950-55.  A somewhat severe looking lady who did her very best to teach me English but, alas, all to not much avail.  However, what she did succeed in doing was to inject me with a permanent anxiety bug that leaves me forever worrying about whether my English is correct or not. 

Now, as some of you may have noticed, I am fond - oh alright then - over-fond of exclamation marks.  I toss them around with gay abandon - not that sort of 'gay', do behave - and I am uneasily aware that somewhere there is a rule which Miss Woods would have taught me that governs their correct usage but, of course, I can't remember it.  At the time I was so much more pre-occupied with either football or the ever-burgeoning Josie B. who had the desk next to me.

Anyway, today I was less than impressed to have Mr. Mark Forsyth of The Spectator remind me of my careless use of this grammatical device.  To be honest, he doesn't take the problem forward very far and it was more than a tad embarrassing to be told that the careless use of exclamation marks is a habit I share with President Trump!  Yeeeees, quite!  However, what I can say is that when my, er, 'stream of unconsciousness' hits the screen then usually, but not always, my exclamation marks are meant either as emphasis or to indicate humour.

Whether that is correct or not, I cannot say, but no doubt Miss Woods will tell me in her very precise way when I join her in heaven  - and I heard that! 

 

 

Comments

[Whitewall]

Well, with the passage of hurricane Michael and its high winds and heavy downpours....we now, after 22 hours without power, have it back!!!!!

[Andra]

I'm very fond of exclamation marks and to hell with Miss Woods!!

[David Duff]

Bloody hell, Whiters, that 'fickle finger of fate' has pointed at the USA for too long! First, NC, then Florida. Good job y'all have 'the right stuff'!

Don't be too harsh on her, Andra, she was actually a very nice lady! (That one's for her!)

[Richard]

I think I'll just leave this here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3y0CD2CoCs

[JK]

https://pjmedia.com/video/watch-the-most-hilarious-badass-political-ad-of-2018/

Richard you're a terrible influence ...

[Scroblene]

Being a three dot man myself, I can understand the quandary...

What is strange, is that after posting a comment anywhere, I re-read the implication of either an exclamation mark or the three dot method, and change them all!

I blame modern keyboards, as one would never have written three dots...

(Even with a maroon Parker Duofold)!...;)(*&^%$£")!

[David Duff]

Richard, that was hilarious!

JK, like so much else in life, you 'do' things, like political advertising, differently over there!

Scrobbers, I, too, think the keyboard has much to answer for!

[Timbo]

The exclamation mark...the marker of emotional incontinence.

Damn, that’s harsh!!!

[Bob]

David, this is one place the possible PM Corbyn of today's post, your defiant writing style and the American way of doing things all converge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E2hYDIFDIU

[David Duff]

Well, thank you, Bob, it's nearly always a pleasure for me to listen to Sinatra but that particular song is not a favourite of mine.

Nor am I sure what you mean by describing my "writing style" as "defiant".