Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Learning grammar can be fun sometimes. I read an outstanding book about grammar a while back, titled “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” by Lynne Truss.

I’m definitely not an expert in grammar, English or Spanish, so I’m always looking for ways to improve my grammar skills in both languages.

Anyway, the book contains a joke that is just awesome. Here it is:

A panda walks into a café. 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 his way 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 relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

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

Just in case, here is the explanation. Without punctuation, “eats shoots and leaves” means that a panda eats bamboo shoots and leaves. However, with a comma, “eats, shoots and leaves,” it means that a panda eats something, shoots a gun, and then leaves.

Is grammar important? You bet—it could be a matter of life or death. 🤣

37 thoughts on “Eats, Shoots & Leaves”

  8. A good belly laugh is always uplifting. Thank you, Edward, for improving my energy. Much appreciated! And yes, grammar is definitely important. I always try to improve my writing skills, grammar included, especially because English is not my native language. Well, now I found myself correcting myself regarding past writings, which means I am improving. Living and learning, always! Lots of light and blessings on your day*

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    1. Thank you, Susana. I’m glad you had a good laugh. Maintaining proficiency in two or more languages is a challenge, but a rewarding one. All we can do is improve a little each day. Blessing to you, my friend.

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  14. Haha, this was funny, a very cute joke to express how important grammar is (I don’t think I’m the best at it either, but I write off the hip and don’t worry too much about it) now however, if I’m writing an English paper, a professional email, or something, might be a different story. It’s like the “let’s eat, grampa!” joke I always see, written originally as “let’s eat grampa!!” Haha 🤣 commas are indeed important. Thanks for sharing, Edward. 😊

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