BBC World News shows you the difference between a comma and a period

Here's a very quick blooper from BBC that shows just how important timing is when giving the news or a speech.



For those of you with English as a second language, here's what he was supposed to say:

This is BBC World News. I'm Jonathan Charles. Kept hidden for almost two decades, and forced to bear children...

and what he actually said instead:

This is BBC World News. I'm Jonathan Charles, kept hidden for almost two decades, and forced to bear children.

A story from two years back also shows why comma usage is important. In this case, it ended up costing Rogers in Canada $2 million. I think they won on appeal though by referring to the French-language contract where the stipulation on cancellation was clearer.