24 September 2011 was designated “National Punctuation Day” by my good friend Jeff Rubin and his wife, Norma.  In their honor and to celebrate this important day, I am sharing a few solutions of my own on word and punctuation usage.  Check out their site, which is filled with fun and useful tips:

National Punctuation Day

Advanced Etiquette aims to make people feel comfortable and at ease in social situations. While proper punctuation and word usage may not be directly related to having good manners and etiquette, using language correctly is part of presenting yourself to others with the best image possible. Saying or writing something incorrectly sends uncomfortable signals to the listener or reader, like the screeching sounds of running your fingers across a chalkboard—yipes! Using correct punctuation and words will elevate your stature in both social and business situations

1. It’s versus Its. “It” is the exception to the possessive rule. Generally, you add an apostrophe to indicate ownership. For example, this is Syndi’s newsletter.

“It’s” breaks the rule. It means “it is;” “its” is possessive.

2. There versus Their. Which is correct?… “Cheryl and Pam walked there dogs” or “Cheryl and Pam walked their dogs.” Choose Door Number 2. There is a location (among other meanings), but their is the pronoun for more than one person.

3. Further versus Farther. Further means time or quantity, as in, “He wished he could pursue the subject further.” Farther means distance, as in, “He threw the ball farther down the field than expected” and “New York is farther from Denver than Omaha.” English is an ever-changing language, and some dictionaries now say these words are interchangeable. I find this unfortunate; these are and should remain, totally distinct and separate words.

4. Less and More are not Fewer and Greater. Less and more refer to quantity. For example, “She filled the blue cup more (or less) than the red cup.” Fewer and greater refer to numbers. I am bothered whenever I see “Express Line, 10 Items or Less.” These signs are incorrect, which irritates me to no end. The signs should read “Express Line: 10 Items or Fewer.” I think about never returning to that store every time I see this. Their image as an educated, professional establishment goes straight to the bottom of the list.

5. Zero or O. Zero is a number. O is a letter. While most people are careful to type the right character, many folks are less careful when talking. In speech, use the word zero to state a number. For example, “the area code for San Jose, California, is four zero eight.”

6. Stationery versus Stationary. Use your beautiful personalized stationery to write a thank-you note for the business lunch; use a stationary bike to keep in shape. Stationary means to stay in one place, and stationery refers to materials for letter writing.

7. Compliment versus Complement. Give a compliment to a friend whose jewelry complements her eyes. One refers to giving praise; the other means having something match or “going along” with something else.

8. Hyphens and Dashes. A hyphen is a short horizontal line between compound words such as your telephone number and zip code+4. To be correct, say the word “hyphen” not “dash” when stating your telephone number and/or zip code+4. A telephone number should correctly be stated as “area code 415-hyphen-346-hyphen-3665.”

A written dash is a longer horizontal line used to set off a comment or interruption within a sentence. It is stronger than a comma and less formal than a colon. Verbally, these kinds of comments are called “asides.”

For further information on National Punctuation Day, see www.NationalPunctuationDay.com

Question: What other items do you have to add to this list?  Do let us hear from you at www.AdvancedEtiquette.com.  If you enjoyed this article and want more, subscribe to our “Etiquette Tip of the Month” newsletter—at no charge—filled with great monthly tips on all sorts of topics from international business and social etiquette and protocol to everyday life subjects.  It will be great to have you as a member of our happy family of subscribers at www.AdvancedEtiquette.com/subscribe.

Happy Practicing!