You Have a Point There: A Guide to Punctuation and Its Allies

THE FIRST thought of the unthinking will be: But surely no chapter is required? Why not a paragraph at the end of Chapter 9?

The matter is not quite so simple as that. Indeed, to avoid confusion, the chapter must first of all be divided into two parts, Punctuational and Non-Punctuational; then we must bear in mind that the latter has to deal not only with several of the marks or points or stops used in punctuation but also with asterisks. We shall be wise to consider first:

The asterisk (*) qualifies for a place on two counts. First, it varies the dash, or a dot or dots, employed to signify either that a letter or letters are missing from (say) an inscription on stone or from a word in an ancient manuscript-or indeed, a modern manuscript or even a typescript or a printed book, damaged by fire or water or mould-or that a letter or letters have been intentionally omitted from an objectionable word. Thus:

d**n or d***, for d-n or d-, damn

ku***mis, obviously kuklamis, the Greek xυxλαµíς, cyclamen

Th** *an fell grievously ill (That man…).

Second, the asterisk is plurally used either to imply that an interval of time has passed between the matter preceding and the matter following the line, or partial line, of asterisks; or to draw attention to an abrupt or otherwise considerable transition. In the second variation, it constitutes a substitute for a double space or for a section-heading (e.g.: § 3). Thus:

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