Friday, August 05, 2005

Punctuation

I came across an article on the importance of proper punctuation. It quoted this classic example:

Version 1

Dear Jon:

I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours?

Gloria

Version 2

Dear Jon:

I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours,
Gloria

Pretty interesting, huh?

Another news article reported that a writer from China has came up with the world's shortest novel, consisting of just punctuations, as follows:

:?
:!
“‘……’”
(、)·《,》
;——

That is supposed to represent about 100 chinese characters. And he's offering 140,000 yuan if you can tell him what it means!

Inspired, I decided to write my own novel, coded with just punctuations. It tells the story of a couple having a quarrel, and all the differences they had in the past got brought up. I estimate it to be about a thousand words.

~#&^$@!!
@%$~#%@@!!!
...

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