Harry Campbell sent this one in to The Engine Room, and he asks: "Is punctuation now rationed at the Daily Telegraph?"
If anything, I think the lack of punctuation conveys a rather appropriate sense of panic on the part of Joe Ashley. I'd be panicked if I thought crocodiles might start dropping out of the sky...
6 comments:
They spoiled the stream-of-consciousness effect a bit with the tabloid-style unnecessary para break and paradoxically-scrupulous use of quotation marks. Perhaps they shd have gone the whole hog with something like "Itcouldbecrocodilesthatwouldberealscaryomigodwhasthatupthererunrunforyourlivesboys!!!!"
Perhaps "Joe Ashley" is a pseudonym for Gertrude Stein?
What? It's a perfectly well-formed sentence with a restrictive clause in the conditional, to match the main clause. Scary crocodiles could fall from the sky! Really scary ones!
Do you suppose that was lifted straight from a text or e-mail? And maybe they don't want to edit, even if that helps it make sense?
TootsNYC - that crossed my mind too. But there's also a comma missing after 'Jabiru' so I think it's just an editorial lapse.
Harry - I agree with you!
This is brilliant — it lends a breathless sense of urgency and near-hysteria to the report. More news stories should use stream-of-consciousness quotes.
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