Quote:
the other option would be some sort of insect "dookie" for lack of a better word
In Classical Greek manuscripts, as a question mark, instead of using
? they used what we now use as a semicolon
;For a semicolon they used a dot part way up the line, without the comma underneath.
Many years ago a group of classical scholars were divided over the interpretation of a line from a Greek play. According to the only surviving manuscript, in the Vatican Library, the line ended in
; and so had to be read as a question. Some scholars said it made much more sense as a statement and the manuscript probably used a high-up dot but someone had misread it.
They received permission from the Vatican to view the original. It was solemnly brought up from the vaults and opened at the right page. The leader of the 'question mark' supporters cried out in triumph and stabbed his finger onto a clear
; But when he took it away there remained an equally clear high-up dot. And adhereing to the tip of his finger was a several hundred year old dead fly in the shape of a perfect comma.
Posted 08/03/2015 6:30 pm
