Punctuation Marks

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the8thark · #1 Post by **the8thark** » Mon 11 May 2026, 4:49 am

Lets look at a few of the Pet Shop Boys single and album titles, based on what is on the cover of each.

Pet Shop Boys “It’s a sin”
“What have I done to deserve this”
Pet Shop Boys, Actually.
“Always on my mind”
Behaviour. Pet Shop Boys
Being Boring. Pet Shop Boys
Yesterday, When I Was Mad.
Love Etc.
Yes, Pet Shop Boys

Does anyone know why these releases have the punctuation marks?

“ “ . ,

There maybe more I have not mentioned here as well.

Just one example here why did they choose do go with Pet Shop Boys, Actually.
Instead of Pet Shop Boys Actually

I'm asking the same for all of their releases with punctuation marks in the titles on the release cover.

Does anyone have any insight into this?

Dog · #2 Post by **Dog** » Mon 11 May 2026, 6:38 am

“It’s a sin” was Neil’s idea - so it looked like a Victorian book illustration in the context of the sleeve.

The comma in Pet Shop Boys, actually is so it reads like a full sentence. Many Pet Shop Boys titles are taken from things people actually say - English sounding words or phrases (“What have I done to deserve this?”), or full sentences - particularly when coupled with the band name. They are using punctuation to make that clear.

They also like things to be grammatically correct. Don’t forget Neil’s background as an editor! There is something very English - and therefore very Pet Shop Boys - about making sure all punctuation is present and correct.

Sandy Shaw · #3 Post by **Sandy Shaw** » Mon 11 May 2026, 9:13 am

The effect goes with practice for most of their songs of dropping capital letters (in all but the first initial letters and proper nouns).

Pet Shop Boys “It’s a sin”
“What have I done to deserve this”
Pet Shop Boys, Actually.
“Always on my mind”
Behaviour. Pet Shop Boys
Being boring. Pet Shop Boys
Yesterday, when I was mad
Love etc.
Yes, Pet Shop Boys

They missed a trick with Love etc by not having a comma and fullstop as with the Barnes novel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love,_Etc_(novel)

michael888 · #4 Post by **michael888** » Mon 11 May 2026, 2:02 pm

Speaking of grammar, one thing that relentlessly bugs me is the sing title ‘Everyday is like Sunday’. Shouldn’t it be ‘Every day is like Sunday’? ‘Everyday’ is an adjective and we need a noun instead of an adjective.

Sandy Shaw · #5 Post by **Sandy Shaw** » Mon 11 May 2026, 2:08 pm

michael888 wrote: Mon 11 May 2026, 2:02 pm Speaking of grammar, one thing that relentlessly bugs me is the sing title ‘Everyday is like Sunday’. Shouldn’t it be ‘Every day is like Sunday’? ‘Everyday’ is an adjective and we need a noun instead of an adjective.

Good point there!

Spittingcat · #6 Post by **Spittingcat** » Mon 11 May 2026, 4:43 pm

Annoying as he is, he picks his words carefully.

Is "every single day like Sunday"... or is "the everyday, the ordinary, the routine, the humdrum, like Sunday".

Sandy Shaw · #7 Post by **Sandy Shaw** » Tue 12 May 2026, 9:36 am

Spittingcat wrote: Mon 11 May 2026, 4:43 pm Annoying as he is, he picks his words carefully.

Is "every single day like Sunday"... or is "the everyday, the ordinary, the routine, the humdrum, like Sunday".

He could mean both of course as the brain on hearing it makes it sound like ''every day'' anyway....

Harry · #8 Post by **Harry** » Tue 12 May 2026, 10:56 am

Sandy Shaw wrote: Mon 11 May 2026, 9:13 am
They missed a trick with Love etc by not having a comma and fullstop as with the Barnes novel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love,_Etc_(novel)

I seem to remember Neil specifically addressing this one. He insisted, if I remember correctly, that 'etc' being short for the French 'et cetera', 'et' being 'and', there shouldn't be a comma.

Dog · #9 Post by **Dog** » Tue 12 May 2026, 11:18 am

This one’s a bit of a strange sentence.

Harry · #10 Post by **Harry** » Tue 12 May 2026, 1:44 pm

Dog wrote: Tue 12 May 2026, 11:18 am This one’s a bit of a strange sentence.

It's a correct sentence in the same way as "Pet Shop Boys please", "Pet Shop Boys, actually" and "Yes, Pet Shop Boys"

Dog · #11 Post by **Dog** » Tue 12 May 2026, 1:46 pm

Harry wrote:
Dog wrote: Tue 12 May 2026, 11:18 am This one’s a bit of a strange sentence.

It's a correct sentence in the same way as "Pet Shop Boys please", "Pet Shop Boys, actually" and "Yes, Pet Shop Boys"

It’s just strange in the sense that no one would ever say it. The others are all based on conversational norms.

Neilatrone · #12 Post by **Neilatrone** » Tue 12 May 2026, 6:26 pm

Any ideas why they chose "PetShopBoys" for the album cover of Bilingual and not repeated until Nonetheless with "petshopboys"?

Harry · #13 Post by **Harry** » Tue 23 Jun 2026, 3:02 pm

Neilatrone wrote: Tue 12 May 2026, 6:26 pm Any ideas why they chose "PetShopBoys" for the album cover of Bilingual and not repeated until Nonetheless with "petshopboys"?

That's just a visual design thing by Farrow.

Harry · #14 Post by **Harry** » Tue 23 Jun 2026, 3:03 pm

Dog wrote: Tue 12 May 2026, 1:46 pm
Harry wrote:
Dog wrote: Tue 12 May 2026, 11:18 am This one’s a bit of a strange sentence.

It's a correct sentence in the same way as "Pet Shop Boys please", "Pet Shop Boys, actually" and "Yes, Pet Shop Boys"
It’s just strange in the sense that no one would ever say it. The others are all based on conversational norms.

"Have you got a lot of 80s music in your collection? Yes, Pet Shop Boys, etc"

Spittingcat · #15 Post by **Spittingcat** » Tue 23 Jun 2026, 3:35 pm

Harry wrote: Tue 23 Jun 2026, 3:02 pm
Neilatrone wrote: Tue 12 May 2026, 6:26 pm ...not repeated until Nonetheless with "petshopboys"?
That's just a visual design thing by Farrow.

That one is lovely... 11 letters each for symmetry... with furthermore as a bonus.