DiscoverThe Colin McEnroe ShowThere are rules for punctuation, but we don’t always agree on them
There are rules for punctuation, but we don’t always agree on them

There are rules for punctuation, but we don’t always agree on them

Update: 2025-11-20
Share

Description

Should people use the Oxford comma? Is there a correct number of exclamation points per email? If someone ends a casual text with a period, does that mean they’re mad at you?

This hour: punctuation and how we use it. We talk about the history of punctuation marks, timeless punctuation debates, and how writing for texts and emails has changed the way we use punctuation.

GUESTS:

  • RS Benedict: A writer and bureaucrat whose fiction and non-fiction has been published in the New Haven Review, Fangoria, Current Affairs, and a bunch of other places
  • Claire Cock-Starkey: Author of Hyphens and Hashtags: The Stories Behind the Symbols on Our Keyboard
  • Julia Pistell: Founding member of Sea Tea Improv and one of the hosts of the Literary Disco podcast

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Jonathan McNicol, and Cat Pastor contributed to this show, which originally aired November 3, 2021.

Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comments 
In Channel
Shall we dance?

Shall we dance?

2025-11-0652:21

loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

There are rules for punctuation, but we don’t always agree on them

There are rules for punctuation, but we don’t always agree on them

Connecticut Public Radio