A Brief History of the Hashtag, and Other Unusual Punctuation Marks

Doesn't include all the interesting ones, for example the virgule (/), but an interesting collection illustrating transformations in form and naming.

The Origin of the Pilcrow, aka the Strange Paragraph Symbol

Now you know what it's called.

The Origin of the Pilcrow, aka the Strange Paragraph Symbol
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/design/2013/07/the-origin-of-the-pilcrow-aka-the-strange-paragraph-symbol/

How Many Spaces After a Period? Ending the Debate

More detail than you would ever need about the typographical history of the number of times you should hit the spacebar after you've finished typing a sentence. 

How Many Spaces After a Period? Ending the Debate
http://theworldsgreatestbook.com/how-many-spaces-after-a-period/

4 Punctuation Marks for Appositives

Okay; this is the sort of thing that gives grammarians a bad name. But if you want to be an effective writer, it's the sort of thing you should take an interest in. 

4 Punctuation Marks for Forming Appositive Phrases
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/4-punctuation-marks-for-forming-appositive-phrases/

11 Ways To Use Commas Properly

Neatly worded tips on polishing up your written accuracy. AO1.

11 Ways To Use Commas Properly
http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/37467.aspx

A sign of the Times’s? (grammarphobia.com)

This issue came up in both AS and A2 classes this week. Even professional publications meet difficulties deciding on a rule in some cases, and there's disagreement at the top. 

This doesn't, of course, mean you can ignore all rules of apostrophes. ;)

A sign of the Times's?
http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/11/times.html

Apostrophe Catastrophes

Lol's and ROFL's about apostrophe's.*

Apostrophe Catastrophes
http://www.apostrophecatastrophes.com/

*All of these are wrong, though some people use the first two, misleadingly. 

Semicolon Appreciation Society

This really exists. You can buy a T-shirt. 

Or rather: This really exists; you can buy a T-shirt. 

Semicolon Appreciation Society
http://www.dictionaryevangelist.com/2008/02/semicolon-appreciation-society.html

11 Secret Meanings Behind Punctuation in Text Messages

Remember kids: Punctuation is not Grammar. But it can be telling bit of graphology, as in the following - not entirely serious - article. 

11 Secret Meanings Behind Punctuation in Text Messages | Underwire | Wired.com
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/06/secret-meanings-text-message-punctuation/all/1

The apostrophe within LA Noire

My excuse for posting this comes within the last paragraph of the article rather than the content, and it's a surprising instance of apostrophe abuse in a broadsheet newspaper:

"Well, I played with friends and there was much shared attention and debate over suspects' behaviour. But no matter how sharply focussed you and your friends' cheater detection modules, MacGuffins, red herrings, and double bluffs lurk in both the shadows of Cole Phelps' mind and in the dark corners of the game. You better fasten your seatbelts, because all you Cole Phelps' out there are in for a bumpy ride."

The plurals 'friends' and 'bluffs' and 'corners' are fine of course, and the plural possessives 'suspects'' and 'friends'' well handled with the apostrophe after the -s. They handle the possessive on 'Phelps' in 'Cole Phelps' mind' with equal accuracy. Why do they feel they need to bung an apostrophe on 'all you Cole Phelps' out there' though?

Glass - glasses. Pulse - pulses. Octopus - octopuses, unless you go all Latin. (Surely never Octopus' though!) So Phelps - Phelpses.  Nyeh. 

The psychology within LA Noire
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/20/la-noire-psychology-detective-phelps