“Dash Out and Celebrate”

National Punctuation Day was founded in 2004 by journalist Jeff Rubin. The day is intended to shine an international spotlight on the use -- and misuse -- of punctuation around the world.

This year, the very best use I’ve seen of National Punctuation Day comes from PoynterOnline, where Joe Grimm offers tips for avoiding common punctuation errors on resumes.

A lot of job applicants could help themselves out if they paid better attention to punctuation. Resumes are tricky because they are so heavily formatted with indents and boldface type that some of the usual rules for punctuation can be suspended on the resume.

Suspensions notwithstanding, Grimm goes ahead and helps students right the wrongs. His piece is here, while The Chicago Tribune doesn’t offer much beyond “Dash right out and celebrate.” (Groan. No wonder the newspaper industry is in so much trouble.) Still, that’s not as bad as Suite101, who let readers know that “National Punctuation Day Raises a Mighty Bracket.” And, of course, all the questions are answered and the mysteries solved at the official National Punctuation Day website.