The Difference Between a Man-Eating Lobster and a Man, Eating Lobster

A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. 

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. 

"I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up." 

The waiter turns to the revenant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 

"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

It's hard to convince kids that spelling and punctuation matter, especially when every browser has a spell-check plugin. We can talk about homonyms all we want, but when it comes to punctuation, the best way to make anyone give a hoot, are concrete examples.

Below are some great, funny concrete examples of how punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence. Sadly, some of the best ones were not school appropriate, but I still feel confident that this list and accompanying handout will get a few chuckles.

Let's eat grandma! vs Let's eat, grandma!

Let's eat, Grandma!

vs

Let's eat Grandma!

Woman, without her, man is nothing.

vs

Woman with her man, is nothing.

A clever dog knows it's master.
vs
A clever dog knows its master.

"The thief," said the policeman, "Was lying." 
vs
The thief said, "The policeman was lying."

"Who got fired?" "Stacy," said the director.
vs
"Who got fired?" Stacy said, "the director."

The butler stood at the door and called his guests names.
vs
The butler stood at the door and called his guests' names.

I once saw a man eating lobster.
vs
I once saw a man-eating lobster.

This company knows it's junk.
vs
This company knows its junk.

This book is dedicated to my parents, Maureen Johnson and David Bowie.
vs
This book is dedicated to my parents, Maureen Johnson, and David Bowie.

Practice PDF

For more on this subject, read Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss