The note read: "Bill Jones having gone to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety."

Failing to observe the punctuation, he startled his audience by announcing:
"Bill Jones, having gone to see his wife, desires the prayers of the congregation for his safety."

(from Miracles)

God is nowhere

God is now here

King Charles the First walked and talked
Half an hour after his head was cut off.
-Anonymous
from: A Choice Collection of Riddles, Charades and Rebusses (1792)

This old puzzle, of course,illustrated the importance of punctuation by omitting the period after talked.

A woman without her man is nothing.

In tests it has been found that men tend to read this sentence thus:

A woman without her man, is nothing.

Whereas women read it:

A woman - without her, man is nothing.

Richard English

Richard, you beat me to the punch. The version I'd heard is dealt with [i]"woman without her man is a savage"[i].

The men punctuated it to read, Woman, without her man, is a savage.

The women, more perceptive, made it, Woman! Without her, man is a savage.