Today’s dose of cute, which has been popping up all over the social media universe, comes to us from the clever folks at Motifake. Aside from providing a bit of Disco Era nostalgia — do today’s clubs have bottom-lit dance floors? — it demonstrates the importance of punctuation to the meaning of some sentences.

It might also serve as inspiration for your entry in yesterday’s comma contest, the winners of which get free copies of Phrase Wit. Woo hoo! And to guide you in crafting an entry, here’s a link to a few more examples of the power of punctuation.)

Punctuation, as a topic, might sound mind-crushingly dull. And it is more of an art than a business. But consider this particular four-word sequence. Depending on the placement or omission of commas or periods, it can convey four dramatically different meanings. If the notion of seals at a dance club makes you laugh, how about the notion expressed by this version: stop clubbing baby, seals. Granted, your average seal might find it hard to wield a club — it’s an opposable thumb thing — but I’m sure that Photoshop is up to the task. 

The comma-less version, stop clubbing baby seals, expresses a sentiment that few will find objectionable, even if grandma’s sealskin coat was the softest, warmest, yummiest garment ever made. Anyone actually clubbing seals — we hope that heinous practice has also become a relic of the ’70s — might have their own punctuation, similar to what you’d find in any work zone: Stop. Clubbing Baby Seals.

Ambiguous:  Open to more than one interpretation. Correct punctuation can be used to remove the ambiguity from a sentence. From the Latin ambiguus, meaning doubtful which itself derived from ambigere (waver, go around). Ambi = both ways; agere = to drive.