Using Conventions Deliberately · 有意使用规范
Punctuate the relationship you mean
- Choose the mark from the relationship, not from how long the sentence feels.
- If the second half explains the first, use a colon.
- If both halves are equal, use a semicolon. If one interrupts, use dashes.
A colon can announce an explanation; do not hire it merely because the sentence feels long.
为你想表达的关系打标点
- 从关系出发选择符号,而不是从句子感觉有多长出发。
- 如果后半解释前半,就用冒号。
- 如果两半对等,就用分号。如果其中一半是打断,就用破折号。
冒号可以引出解释；别只因句子太长就雇它来帮忙。
Conventions buy attention
- Following conventions is not about correctness for its own sake.
- A reader who stops to work out your punctuation has stopped reading your argument.
- Every convention you keep is attention you have left available for the point.
惯例换来注意力
- 遵循惯例不是为了正确本身。
- 一个停下来琢磨你标点的读者,已经停止阅读你的论证了。
- 你所遵守的每一条惯例,都是你为要点留下的注意力。
Punctuation should be chosen from... · 标点应从以下方面进行选择...
Every mark asserts a relationship; choose the one that asserts yours. · 每个符号都主张一种关系；选择那个主张你意图关系的符号。
Marks to use sparingly
- Dashes create emphasis by interrupting — three in a paragraph and none of them emphasises anything.
- Parentheses rank material as secondary; a paragraph full of them reads as an argument that could not decide.
- Exclamation marks ask the reader to feel something the sentence has not earned.
要节制使用的符号
- 破折号靠打断制造强调——一段里出现三个,就没有一个还能强调什么。
- 括号把材料排为次要;满是括号的段落读起来像是一篇拿不定主意的论证。
- 感叹号要求读者去感受一种句子并未赢得的情绪。
Keep, or cut? · 保留还是删去？
Sort each usage by whether it earns its place. · 根据每种用法是否值得存在进行分类。
Select all · 所有 the marks this lesson says to use sparingly. · 选择本课建议谨慎使用的所有符号。
Full stops are the default; the other three cost their effect when repeated. · 句号是默认选项；其他三种符号若重复使用则会消耗其效果。
Following conventions buys you the reader's . · 遵循规范可以赢得读者的。
A reader working out your punctuation has stopped reading your argument. · 当读者在琢磨你的标点时，他们就已经停止阅读你的论证了。
Emphasis is relative. The second italicised word in a paragraph cancels the first, and the third cancels both. The same is true of dashes: three interruptions in one paragraph interrupt nothing, because there is no longer a norm to depart from.
**强调是相对的。**段落中第二个斜体词会抵消第一个,第三个把前两个都抵消掉。破折号亦然:一段里三次打断等于没有打断,因为已经不存在可供偏离的常态了。
Emphasis is relative, so a second italicised word in a paragraph weakens the first. · 强调是相对的，因此一段中第二个斜体词会削弱第一个的效果。
If everything is emphasised, the reader cannot tell what mattered. · 如果所有内容都被强调，读者将无法分辨重点。
Emphasis by design
- Italics for emphasis work exactly once in a paragraph.
- The second italicised word cancels the first, because emphasis is relative.
- If everything is emphasised, the reader has no way to tell what mattered.
靠版面制造强调
- 段落中用于强调的斜体,恰好只在第一次有效。
- 第二个斜体词会抵消第一个,因为强调是相对的。
- 如果什么都被强调,读者就无从分辨什么才要紧。
Match each check to the mark it tests. · 将每个检查项与其测试的符号匹配。
Each mark has a question it must answer before it earns its place. · 每个符号在获得立足点之前都必须回答一个问题。
A punctuation pass
- Find every colon: does what follows actually explain what preceded?
- Find every semicolon: are both sides independent statements of equal rank?
- Find every dash and italic: is this the only one in its paragraph?
标点检查
- 找出每一个冒号:其后的内容是否真的解释了其前的内容?
- 找出每一个分号:两侧是否都是同等地位的独立陈述?
- 找出每一个破折号与斜体:它是否是所在段落里唯一的一个?
"The report — which the department commissioned — was never published — a fact it has not explained." Three dashes, no emphasis, and a sentence the reader has to reassemble. One dash, kept for the last clause, would have done all the work.
*"这份报告——由该部门委托编写的——从未公开——而这一点它并未作出解释。"*三个破折号,毫无强调,读者还得自己把句子重新拼起来。只保留最后一个分句前的那一个破折号,就能完成全部工作。
Choose punctuation from the relationship you mean. Conventions buy the reader's attention for your argument. Use dashes, parentheses and italics sparingly — emphasis is relative, so the second one cancels the first. Then run a pass checking each mark against what it asserts.
从你想表达的关系出发选择标点。惯例为你的论证换来读者的注意力。破折号、括号与斜体都要节制使用——强调是相对的,第二个会抵消第一个。然后作一次检查,把每个符号与它所断言的内容对照。