Earlier this year on Facebook, yes, that ”
know-it-all, free- for- all, last word of all things” reported the story of a
student asking a teacher if a word needed a “flying comma”, referring to an
apostrophe.
The story inspired me to consider that the
use of a “flying comma” would be quite glidingly appropriate when discussing
aeronautics.
However, if we were to have a discussion regarding
the art and application of magic then perhaps “Levitating Comma” might insinuate
a more conjuring impact.
If we are in the
sanctuary and working with ceremonial, sacred, and liturgical matters, I would
encourage the use of “Comma of Ascension” so as to invoke a sense of divine
ephemera.
In the field of Olympic Gymnastics
perhaps we could jump to “Acrobatic comma” to give the sentence the excitement
of a “Mary Lou” tumble and twirl.
And in the academic field
of physics, we may imbue our sentence with an Einsteinian attribute with use of
a “Gravity resistant comma”.
Of course, we could leave
it with its conventional and historic nomenclature without any pretentious descriptive
accoutrement and allow it to retain its humble persona as a down-to-Earth
“non-condescending apostrophe”.
Whichever you choose to
use, take care to not confuse, as I assert…
Happy’ National,
Punctuation’ Day!
