This week’s newsletter from Dan Pink contained links to a few websites that turn less into more.
One of those sites was Just the Punctuation.
Here is how it works:
- You paste some text into a box
- hit the submit button
- the program clears away all the words
- all that is left is just the punctuation.
- It’s fascinating. And revealing.
Here’s the example I tried, using an excerpt from my favorite novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.
Here’s the excerpt:
“I cannot have deceived myself,” he said; “I must look upon the past in a false light. What!” he continued, “can I have been following a false path?—can the end which I proposed be a mistaken end?—can one hour have sufficed to prove to an architect that the work upon which he founded all his hopes was an impossible, if not a sacrilegious, undertaking? I cannot reconcile myself to this idea—it would madden me. The reason why I am now dissatisfied is that I have not a clear appreciation of the past. The past, like the country through which we walk, becomes indistinct as we advance. My position is like that of a person wounded in a dream; he feels the wound, though he cannot recollect when he received it. Come, then, thou regenerate man, thou extravagant prodigal, thou awakened sleeper, thou all–powerful visionary, thou invincible millionaire,—once again review thy past life of starvation and wretchedness, revisit the scenes where fate and misfortune conducted, and where despair received thee. Too many diamonds, too much gold and splendor, are now reflected by the mirror in which Monte Cristo seeks to behold Dantes. Hide thy diamonds, bury thy gold, shroud thy splendor, exchange riches for poverty, liberty for a prison, a living body for a corpse!” As he thus reasoned, Monte Cristo walked down the Rue de la Caisserie. It was the same through which, twenty–four years ago, he had been conducted by a silent and nocturnal guard; the houses, today so smiling and animated, were on that night dark, mute, and closed. “And yet they were the same,” murmured Monte Cristo, “only now it is broad daylight instead of night; it is the sun which brightens the place, and makes it appear so cheerful.”
So I copied and pasted that into Just the Punctuation, hit the submit button, and here is what I got:
” , ” ; ” . ! ” , ” ? — — ? — — , , ? — — . . , , . ; , . , , , , , – , , — — , , . , , . , , , , , ! ” , . , – , ; , – , , , . ” , ” , ” ; , . ” .
It gives a whole new meaning to what Dumas was trying to say.
So I decided to try this with the blog post I had written earlier today and was planning to publish later this evening. I copied the blog post into Just the Punctuation, and this was the result:
” ” ( ‘ ) , . , . . ‘ . . ‘ : , – , . ‘ – ? ? . ‘ , ‘ . . , . ‘ , ‘ . . ‘ . ‘ – , ‘ ‘ . . , – . , . ‘ , ‘ . . , ! ‘ , ‘ . ? … .
The post is about a topic that is near and dear to me, and I hope it resonates with you as well. As I said, I think this may be one of my best posts ever, and I think Just the Punctuation makes it even more powerful…
P.S. Feel free to leave your comments in a similar format…
?!!
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I’m glad the post meant so much to you…
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🙂
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you are whacked
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I can’t argue with that!
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I will just post my colon for everyone to see:
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I would have preferred to see your small intestine…
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Are the people that follow your blog called “blatherskites”? Asking for Carolyn.
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if that means “people with questionable tastes”, then yes…
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Ummm…wait! What?? Let me guess you are being “helpful” again?
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You always second-guess my intentions. As a blatherskite myself I have a lot to say about this, but little of it is of any consequence.
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LOL! Oh gosh. Well you know, my mind may still be on poor Cara!!
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that’s the fun of being a blatherskite…
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Trying to think where I heard that word recently that put it into my head. It may have been on a Cheers rerun. Anyway, it is a fun word to say.
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my dad told me that his mom used to call all her kids blatherskites while they were growing up…
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I think I will start a new organization for fellow blatherskites. Maybe I can call it:
The International Organized Assembly and Association of United and Allied Blatherskites of America and Other Places.
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That sounds like a prestigious group! You should feel proud to be the leader.
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can we have a secret handshake?
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count me in…
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LOL! And here I thought you made it up! I was going to ask for an exact meaning, but my head knows that it would be safer not too.
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“a person who talks at great length without making much sense.” Sound like a description fitting anybody that you can think of?
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…mmm…!!
Nope, can’t think of what you may be possibly implying!
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My husband may have a different answer, but then….what does he know. 🙂
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Oh, I was thinking of applying the term to myself.
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Oooh …well yeah, that obviously makes more sense! ☺
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that’s close to the tag line of my blog 🙂
but I think I know whom you may be referring to…
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it’s where Borden’s Blather comes from…
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😶🤚!
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I knew Jason or Tippy would come through!
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“No comment!”
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🙂
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I’m writing my comment in invisible ink with my secret decoder ring:
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hmmm…. my decoder ring didn’t work… 🙂
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‽
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I apprecaite your thoughtful comment… 🙂
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⸮? ~ ,, 🙂
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now I’m blushing… 🙂
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One of your best for sure!😄 I wonder if there is a “just the consonants” or a “just the vowels” site.
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thanks, John. Or maybe one that eliminates everything. that might be even better! 🙂
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Hi Jim, this certainly is an odd idea. The punctuation is meaningless on its own but so important in a literary passage.
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Hi Robbie. It is indeed a strange idea. I think that’s what appealed to me 🙂
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, ‘ ‘ ! . . ‘ ‘ ‘ . – – . . . . . , . , ‘ ‘ ‘ . ! .
This is fun!
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well said; I can see your viewpoint… 🙂
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The patterns are fascinating
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all I have to say is what I was thinking when I tried to read it: %#$&*@!))
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as always, you get right to the heart of the matter. thank for sharing those kind words… 🙂
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But why?
PS…. You have had several, better posts. 😊
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why did we have pet rocks? why do we have chia pets? some ideas just make no sense, but they are fun to play around with.
maybe if there was an app that just eliminated everything, it would be my best post…
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“!@&?-_~[]{}?”
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be nice, this is a PG-rated web site… 🙂
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Oh !*#! Was it that obvious? 😂
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there you go again! 🙂
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Sorry, it’s a habit I picked up at pre-school and I’ve never shaken it off. Bit of a !!**## really…
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maybe it’s a British thing 🙂
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Or just me 😂
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that’s certainly possible!
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! ?
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exactly what I was thinking!
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🙂
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“invisible”
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“!!”….. 🙂
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thank you for your kind words… 🙂
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🙂
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I notice that you used a lot of the same punctuation symbols as Dumas.
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I swear I wasn’t plagiarizing…
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Sure.
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,,;:!,.
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Quite frankly . . . I’m speechless . . . why didn’t I ever think of this . . . ???
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Strange and funny wee post jim. Very interesting idea….cheers
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thanks, Peter! cheers…
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Wow! I like the odd things. Only few people can connect.
My reply, in punctuation only:
!..
Isn’t it beautiful?
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your punctuation is a work of art! 🙂
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!
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Once again, hilarious. Now, do you think this punctuation tells a story? Lol 🙂
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thanks, Debby!
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🙂
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!?*
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thank you for those kind words 🙂
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Haha!
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