LawProse Lesson #178: Do you know Standard American Punctuation?

Do you know Standard American Punctuation? Let’s take a well-written paragraph—one that shows some linguistic savvy—and remove all the punctuation. Can you punctuate it meaningfully? Capitalize as necessary to begin sentences. “In the end given so much evidence to the contrary the popularity of the austerity myth has come about largely through the power of a privileged elite this is a class struggle austerity is essentially about smaller government and a small government ideology means lower taxes and fewer regulations a boon to big business especially the finance industry and the rich if less government weren’t such a boon there would be more advocates for higher taxes among the deficit hawks who instead shriek over every nickel extracted from the One Percent let’s recall that if the Bush tax cuts including those for the middle class were completely rescinded the United States would for the next ten to fifteen years have a deficit considered manageable by any reasonable standard and after 2025 or so it is mostly the inefficiency of the health care system that will drive up federal spending how many times must one say this for it to sink in” Not easy, huh? Unless you’re a pro. Professional copyeditors would punctuate that passage in closely similar ways. Very little about it is variable. Print it out and try. If you’re curious, the corrected passage is below Further reading: Garner’s Modern American Usage 674-82 (3d ed. 2009). The Chicago Manual of Style § 6.1–6.126, at 305-48 (16th ed. 2010). Legal Writing in Plain English App. A, at 173-90 (2d ed. 2013). The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style §§ 1.1–1.88, at 3-60 (3d ed. 2013). Corrected passage: “In the end, given so much evidence to the contrary, the popularity of the austerity myth has come about largely through the power of a privileged elite. This is a class struggle. Austerity is essentially about smaller government, and a small-government ideology means lower taxes and fewer regulations—a boon to big business, especially the finance industry, and the rich. If less government weren’t such a boon, there would be more advocates for higher taxes among the deficit hawks, who instead shriek over every nickel extracted from the One Percent. Let’s recall that if the Bush tax cuts (including those for the middle class) were completely rescinded, the United States would for the next ten to fifteen years have a deficit considered manageable by any reasonable standard. And after 2025 or so, it is mostly the inefficiency of the health-care system that will drive up federal spending. How many times must one say this for it to sink in?” You can also make a strong case for writing healthcare as a solid word.