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I laughed out when I read this article on BBC News about how a student got marks for his English GCSE Exam for writing a two word expletive. In UK, the public schools are mostly taking the GCSE Examination which is revised O-Level examination. The GCSE has lately come under many vocal criticisms for making the examination too easy, and this latest bugaboo is yet another mark against the exam.
The pupil apparently has been marked 2 marks out of 27 marks (7%) just for writing a 2 word expletive in his answer. If the pupil has taken the pain to add an exclamation mark, it would have merited another mark! Hence what is the lesson for all of us here? Remember to PUNCTUATE your sentences!!!
It is interesting to note that BBC now allows expletives to be printed on their website as well. Alas, I cannot risk having expletives on my blog so I recommend those who are curious to read the original news report.