"Stops", Or How to Punctuate Part 6

x.x.xVI. The mark of exclamation is sometimes placed after an ironical statement.

They did not fight, tens against thousands; they did not fight for wives and children, but for lands and plunder: therefore they are heroes!

The mark of exclamation keeps up the semblance of seriousness which is of the essence of irony.

x.x.xVII. The mark of exclamation is placed after the statement of some absurdity.

He has been labouring to prove that Shakespeare's plays were written by Bacon!

To him the parliamentary vote was a panacea for all human ills, and the ballot-box an object as sacred as the Holy Grail to a knight of the Round Table!

The same reason applies to its use after such sentences as after ironical statements.

x.x.xVIII. The mark of exclamation may be placed after any impressive or striking thought.

The Angel of Death has been abroad throughout the land: you may almost hear the very beating of his wings!

It may be doubted whether the mark of exclamation is in such cases of any great service; for the impressiveness of a sentence ought to appear in the sentence itself, or to be given to it by the context.

There is a real danger, as the style of many people shows, in thinking that punctuation is intended to save the trouble of careful composition. In putting the mark after pure exclamations, usage is more or less uniform; with regard to impressive sentences, we are left entirely to our own discretion.

x.x.xIX. When a sentence contains more than one exclamation, sometimes the mark of exclamation is placed only after the last, sometimes it is placed after each of them, the test being whether or not they are in reality, as well as in form, several exclamations. (Compare Rule x.x.xI.)

Though all are thus satisfied with the dispensations of Nature, how few listen to her voice! how few follow her as a guide!

What a mighty work he has thus brought to a successful end, with what perseverance, what energy, with what fruitfulness of resource!

THE DASH

XL. The chief purpose of the dash is to indicate that something is left unfinished. Accordingly, it marks a sudden, or abrupt, change in the grammatical structure of a sentence.

When I remember how we have worked together, and together borne misfortune; when I remember--but what avails it to remember?

And all this long story was about--what do you think?

"We cannot hope to succeed, unless----" "But we must succeed."

Note that it is the long dash that is used at the end of a sentence.

The full stop is not added where the dash marks an unfinished sentence. But it is common to add the point of interrogation or the mark of exclamation.

XLI. The dash is used to mark a faltering or hesitating speech.

Well--I don't know--that is--no, I cannot accept it.

XLII. An unexpected turn of the thought may be marked by the dash.

He entereth smiling and--embarra.s.sed. He holdeth out his hand to you to shake, and--draweth it back again. He casually looketh in about dinner-time--when the table is full. He offereth to go away, seeing you have company--but is induced to stay.

French history tends naturally to memoirs and anecdotes, in which there is no improvement to desire but that they were--true.

XLIII. When the subject of a sentence is of such length, or of such complexity, that its connexion with the verb might easily be lost sight of, it is sometimes left hanging in the sentence, and its place supplied by some short expression that sums it up. A dash follows the subject when thus abandoned.

Physical Science, including Chemistry, Geology, Geography, Astronomy; Metaphysics, Philology, Theology; Economics, including Taxation and Finance; Politics and General Literature--all occupied by turn, and almost simultaneously, his incessantly active mind.

The colon is sometimes used in such cases; but the dash seems preferable, as it is the point that marks a change in the structure of a sentence.

XLIV. The dash is sometimes used instead of brackets before and after a parenthesis.

This was amongst the strongest pledges for thy truth, that never once--no, not for a moment of weakness--didst thou revel in the vision of coronets and honour from man.

XLV. The dash is sometimes used instead of the colon, where the word "namely" is implied, but is not expressed.

The most extreme example of such theories is perhaps to be found in the attempt to distribute all law under the two great commandments--love to G.o.d, and love to one's neighbour.

In this sentence, however, the colon is preferable. (See Rule XXVI.).

The dash should be used for this purpose only when it is necessary to use the colon in the same sentence for other purposes.

XLVI. The dash is used in rhetorical repet.i.tion; for instance, where one part of the sentence, such as the subject, is repeated at intervals throughout the sentence, and the rest of the sentence is kept suspended.

Cannot you, in England--cannot you, at this time of day--cannot you, a House of Commons, trust to the principle which has raised so mighty a revenue?

XLVII. A dash following a full stop occurs between the side-heading of a paragraph and the paragraph itself.

_Extent and Boundaries._--England (including Wales) is bounded on the north by Scotland; on the west by the Irish Sea, St George's Channel, and the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by the English Channel; and on the east by the German Ocean.

XLVIII. When we place after a quotation the name of the author from whom it is taken, the full stop and the dash are used in the same way.

"One touch of nature makes the whole word kin."--_Shakespeare._

XLIX. The dash is sometimes used in place of, or in addition to, other points, in order to indicate a pause greater than usual.