There's a Canadian town with two exclamation points in its name...and no one knows why that is.

Entering a chuckle hut of a town.

Just over the northern border of the state of Maine in a remote agricultural belt of Quebec, Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! quietly sits when it isn't having a good chuckle at itself. And it's the only known geographical spot in the world that has not one, but two exclamation points in its name.

Founded in 1860 as a Roman Catholic mission, it took until 1874 before a name was created. How it was created, by whom, or what it means, well, that's another matter. There is no official record, just a date. The town's own website offers casual references to tired--and apparently easily amused--explorers who came upon nearby Lake Témiscouata and said, "Ah! Ah! Here is the lake!" Excitable people, those early explorers.

Other theories suggest the indigenous language is the root, specifically the Wyandot tribe's native Northern Iroquoian word "ahaha," meaning "path." A path to remote regions of nowhere? Sure.

Even the Canadian postal service laughs.

Alas, the Quebec provincial government's Commission de toponymie du Québec, which creates geographical names, firmly disagrees with a good laugh or a good path, stating:

"[W]e must not believe these fanciful interpretations. In reality, the haha, in French, is an archaism that identifies a dead end...an impasse, an unexpected obstacle."

Well, "haha" might be a French archaism, but the Commission doesn't actually have any proof of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! utilizing a French archaism. Indeed, the Commission's own site encourages and emphasizes rooting geographical names in French. That generally negates the indigenous Wyandot having any influence or anyone enjoying a giggle fit or offering geographical names.

The Commission posits that Lake Témiscouata--which is 5 miles away from Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, by the way--caused 19th century explorers to believe they encountered a "haha" (an unexpected obstacle) that was too difficult to get around with canoes. At 28 miles, Lake Témiscouata is fairly long, but only 3 miles wide. Sure, humans crossed the Great Lakes and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by then, but the Quebec government suggests, ehhh, Lake Témiscouata was simply a no-go and settlers didn't ponder canoeing. Considering Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!'s town motto is "Solidaire dans le labeur" (Solidarity in the work), it seems everyone felt solidarity in not working to get across the lake.

Yet, no one--not the Commission de toponymie du Québec, not historians, nor the town of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! itself--has any idea where those very curious exclamation points come from. They just exist. They just do.

As for the "Saint Louis" part? Don't get your hopes up. It's probably named after one of three 19th century locals named Louis, but--you guessed it--no one knows with any certainty which Louis either.



photo:  RICLAF/CA by SA.20

John Grisham is a fan of quotation marks.

While on his first book tour in 25-years to promote his upcoming Camino Island, John Grisham was interviewed by various outlets. During one such interview with a site called Chapter16, Grisham was asked about a character in the new book who has rules for writing. One such rule is characters should always speak in quotation marks.

Such punctuation isn't en vogue amongst the high-minded literary set these days, though, so Chapter16 asked Grisham if his personal views share those with his book's character. Likewise, he was asked whether Cormac McCarthy (who started the trend) should be the only writer allowed to go quotation-less. Said Grisham:

"Cormac should be the only person allowed to do that. I think he started it. He has his own rules for grammar and writing. He’s Cormac. He can get by with that; the rest of us can’t."

Ehhh, I'm not even sure McCarthy gets by with it. His writing is like a lazy 6th-grader who just can't be bothered with his essay's basics because his fingers are covered in Little Debbie snack cake goodness and he's distracted by video games. That's Cormac in a nutshell.

NFL wide receiver has a punctuation first.

An umlaut!

You know what an umlaut is probably, and it's not that little fleshy thing hanging at the back of your throat. That's a uvula. Common mistake.

An umlaut is the punctuation mark of two dots above a letter found in many European languages, like German. It's sort of like if a letter had its own uvula, you might say.

Which brings us to German footballer Moritz Böhringer, who was just drafted by the NFL's Minnesota Vikings. The young rookie assumed he would have to spell his last name as Boehringer because the league's strict uniform policy forbids non-English punctuation. Even his Twitter handle can't manage an umlaut.

Except, for reasons unknown, the NFL changed their position.

Böhringer, not Boehringer.@MoBoehringer received approval from the @NFL to add the umlaut on his jersey. pic.twitter.com/w5oefFZZtT

— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) May 11, 2016

First Poland, now football jerseys. Germany never quits invading.

Pretty much no one in your everyday life knows how to write.

Are you an elitist English snob? Do you go to the grocery store and shake a fist of fury at the express lane stating 12 Items or Less? Do you spit in disgust at the sight of repeated misspellings? Do you privately wear tweed and a monocle and wish you had a British accent?

Your great fashion sense aside, the following photos make up the first of multiple posts about the adventures of everyday life and the dumpster fire that is the English language that surrounds us.

Because everyone really needs an editor in their life.

What's been defaced here is common sense.

This hot mess includes an ellipsis for no apparent reason. Such drama! Don't tell me how it ends!
And clearly Cott Corporation has some hatred toward determiners and prepositions.

---------------------------

You know what's suspicious? Randomly capitalized words.

Maybe that giant eye should keep a look out for that.

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The Virgin Mary not only needs a pair of shoes, she also needs an apostrophe, too.

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Fewer, Arnold. Not less.

It's sort of like how you have fewer major championships than Jack Nicklaus, not less.

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It's never optional to throw in a hyphen on a whim.

--------------------------

Did you know that a hyphen is not the same as an em dash? And that periods are sort of non-negotiable?

Also--why? Why would anyone play 1,080 hours of underwater Monopoly?

Most everyone who replies to Craigslist ads is a cunning literary master.

I recently looked to downsize in life, like any wannabe writer who wants the wind at their back, a view of far away worlds, exotic marketplaces where danger and intrigue could be around any corner, or...ehhh, kind of like I can't believe I have this crap filling a closet.

So I looked to ditch some of my old electronics--a couple laptops, printers, a desktop, a television--all from my college years and running on dust, much like me. Craigslist seemed quickest--and a jaunty little ad was placed by me.

My thoughts are added just now in brackets below, but these are some of the responses, all verbatim in structure and grammar and spacing, to...

Free television, desktop, two laptops, and two printers

1.) Rosendo:

I pick up
Please
Let me know

[Haiku responses is a rarely used approach.]


2.) Jess:

Hi i'm interested can i pick up tomorrow after 12 please?

[Everyone is so polite! And lacking a basic English education! But Mama raised 'em right!]


3.) Maria:

Would appreciate laptop and printer

[I'd appreciate a period.]


4.) Jane O:

Hello, I'm responding to an ad you have on Craig's list. Says you have 2 laptops if  is still available and works fine i'll be glad to take them both. I live close by.

Let me know. thanks I will be able to pick them up what ever time works for you. most likely tomorrow since is a little late now.

Thanks,
Jane

[We all admit that when "Craigslist" becomes "Craig's list" things become a little creepier, no?]


5.) Anonymous:

I am interested in he laptop and such, can you please give me an address where I can pick them up?

[Admittedly, I usually assign genders only to my larger appliances, like refrigerators.]


6.) Joseph:

When are these available for pick up?

[I kindly offered him a time range, when, suddenly, a man named George contacts me through the same email address...:]

George:

if u still got the laptops  please text me at...

[Whoa-whoa-whoa, George is muscling in!!!  Listen, keep your brotherly laptop lust issues between yourselves.]


7.) Donald:

I'm very interested for the items

[Sorry, Donald--I only give away free gifts like Bob Barker if they're exceptionally interested. Nonetheless, I emailed Donald and told him the laptops are gone. So Donald replied...]

Donald:

Really wanted the laptop cause I repairs them but it's ok I'm all set thanks

[Donald, I think we need a good look in the mirror and to ask the question hanging heavy here: How interested were you at all?]


8.) Kathy:

Can I have these please the 2 laptop and printers

[True story: I actually was away from the computer for two minutes, hadn't seen her first email, when she follows up...]

Kathy:

Please can I have  thesecwa mm t to take a course to fix computer and phone will come in handy please and the printers please

[Good lord, did Kathy just have a stroke mid-email while waiting? Is she okay? What happened there? KATHY, ARE YOU ALIVE?!?]


9.) Linda:

Hi my name is Linda I could pick up everything you got there but the TV the TV is the one thing that I don't need how ever I can pick up everything else tomorrow morning after traffic hour [phone number deleted] call text or email me if they're still available

[Why does this email sound like it should be read in a smoky voice? Like some private detective met some dame at a gin joint where they share a cigarette?]


10.) R S:

hi, i am interested in the two laptops. I can pick them tomorrow afternoon. Pl. confirm. thanks

[Were you running out of steam there, buddy? I didn't know "Pl." was a universally accepted abbreviation for please. I thought that was puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip.]


11.) Kader:

Hi!

May I have the HP laptop and HP printer?

Thanks!

KAM.

[BAM!!!]


12.) Classie Trashie:

Interested in computer stuff

[She had me at Classie. But romance blossomed at Trashie.]

The first known printed use of an ellipsis has been discovered.

Three little dots. Three little points of punctuation that trail off or trail in, leaving conversation in limbo or joining the chat midway.

But when did it first appear in print?

While personal handwritten letters are known to show an ellipsis by 1580 and 1585, Dr. Anne Toner of Cambridge University believes she has found the first-ever printed use of an ellipsis. It appears in the form of repetitive hyphens (instead of dots) in the Roman dramatist Terence’s play, Andria, which was translated into English for a British audience by famed translator Maurice Kyffin in 1588.

Toner's new book, Ellipsis in English Literature: Signs of Omission, dives into the history of punctuation that allows writers to create dramatic tension through grammatical vagueness.

As Toner writes, "It’s interesting to think about whose idea it was to use what turned out to be a very useful resource...was it the translator of the Terence play, or the printer? Who the agent was behind the mark is very unclear."

Apparently it's not Terence, who isn't known for much in literary history, and now he can't even claim the ellipsis. Poor guy just can't win.