The Maple Leafs Can't Seem To Get Out Of The First Round Against Punctuation | Defector

"Maple Leafs camp opened on Wednesday, and on a wall in the media room was the motivational slogan "No grit, no grind, no greatness." Eagle-eyed observers noted that this is a minor but significant change from what was printed there last season: "No grit. No grind. No greatness." The periods have been replaced with commas, after the motto was roundly mocked by those pointing out that when read in plain English, the slogan implied that the Leafs possessed none of those things."

"You can see what they're going for. They're trying to convey the message that if you don't have grit or grind, you can't have greatness. But changing the periods to commas doesn't fix anything! It's still just a list of the Leafs' insufficiencies! I am begging the Leafs to consult an English teacher on this. Or, for a $40,000 CAD consulting fee, I will fix it. What are my qualifications? Well, I fight with my coworkers near-weekly about proper use of en dashes."

"So get a load of this: "No grit? No grind? No greatness." See how the question marks turn the tense conditional, and make it clear that without the first two qualities, you won't achieve the last? How about this, if you want to open your players' third eyes without forcing them to memorize an entirely new saying: "Know grit. Know grind. Know greatness." I just homophoned your ass!"

NHL training camps have opened and teams display motivational slogans in dressing rooms. The Maple Leafs installed the slogan 'No grit, no grind, no greatness' in the media room, having changed last season's version that used periods. The punctuation shift from periods to commas did not resolve the problematic meaning, because the phrase can be read as listing qualities the team lacks. Alternative punctuation and wordplay can clarify intention, such as using question marks ('No grit? No grind? No greatness.') or homophonic substitution ('Know grit. Know grind. Know greatness.'). A $40,000 CAD consulting fee is proposed to fix the slogan, and debate about punctuation is used to justify word choices and mock misattributed slogans.

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