One of the greatest achievements of English grammar schools was the development and dissemination of a sophisticated system of standard punctuation for the English language. The complex rules for the use of commas conveyed a range of precise meanings, while the choice between semi-colon, colon and full stop expressed the exact, and often subtle, relationship between statements. Without this kind of attention to punctuation, there is bound to be a loss of precision in communication and in thinking. The current use of commas to join statements together, without any regard for grammar or the nature of the link between them, lacks rigour and covers up lazy thinking.