When we are very young, we tend to regard the ability to use a colon much as a budding pianist regards the ability to play with crossed hands: many o….

A dash derives from "to dash," to shatter, strike violently, to throw suddenly or violently, hence to throw carelessly in or on, hence to write carel….

War…next to love, has most captured the world’s imagination.

Like italics and hyphens, quotation marks are to be used as sparingly as possible. They should light the way, not darken it..