Lol I’m trying to tell you how it feels for me
Harriet Armstrong
‘“lol” is a way of asking for something – attention, reassurance, care or even love – while pretending not to ask for anything.’
Harriet Armstrong on what we really mean when we punctuate our text messages with ‘lol’.
Today Is My Birthday
Christian Lorentzen
‘“To gift” is no gift to me.’
Christian Lorentzen on transitive verbs.
Connecting the Dots
Madeline Cash
‘My mother’s use of ellipses doesn’t reveal a pattern or convey a tone. She’ll “. . .” in good times and bad. Excited, pensive, disappointed or otherwise.’
Madeline Cash on the Boomer generation’s love of ellipses.
Going Underground with Alice Notley
Will Harris
‘This is language interrogating itself.’
Will Harris on Alice Notley’s ‘wrong’ quotation marks.
Breaking Point
Maggie Millner
‘Some line breaks coincide with the end of a sentence or phrase; others don’t.’
Maggie Millner on pauses, silences and choosing where to end the line.
Doubting Thomas
Grace Byron
‘The question mark has a bad reputation. It’s unruly, a rebel feeding on chaos.’
Grace Byron on faith, doubt and embracing the interrogative.
Tolerable Disorder
Rebecca Perry
‘There is a loveliness, I think, in the existence of brackets as a pair.’
Rebecca Perry on parentheses.
X
Akshi Singh
‘The x was only really a kiss in context. It was a kiss depending on who sent it, and when. Otherwise it was affection, friendliness, and disguised aggression.’
Akshi Singh on language, letters, and when to leave a kiss.
Apotheosis of a Speck
Adam Mars-Jones
‘The punctuation family is a close-knit one, with barely half a dozen members, but there is an outlying tribe of more or less distant cousins.’
Adam Mars-Jones on lesser-known punctuations marks.
