Sunday, February 26, 2012
Get rid of the comma
Times change. Language changes. It's a hard thing to watch. Personally, I think it's related to the decline of civilization. But I guess people always say that as they get older.
One comma so far.
I like to stick commas in things. I like to stick parenthetical expressions in things -- it adds depth and texture to the text. Since I started blogging I do a lot more with dashes and parentheses in addition to offsetting phrases with commas. I think the three styles offer three levels of emphasis: dashes are more emphatic than commas, and parentheses less emphatic. Texture in the text.
Two commas so far.
But times change and people have largely eliminated commas from their thinking. I don't know how that works or where it came from. But you have to cooperate with people if you want them to read your stuff. See, I want to put a comma after "But times change" and another one after "how that works" and another one right here, but I won't do it.
Oops.
Still, it might have been more effective if those last five words were a separate sentence. But I won't do it.
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2 comments:
Once Upon a Time commas were used so that one reading aloud knew when to take a breath. It is a device to provide both emphasis and continuity.
Hi Opit.
Hey, where does the pause go when one uses the word "but"?
I would always do
Yadda yadda yadda comma but yadda yadda yadda.
But nobody does that any more. I noticed it first with Mr. Worf on Star Trek Next Gen. He would always jam the "but" onto the end of the first part and then have a huge pause before the rest.
I hoped for a while it was a Klingon thing, but no.
I hoped for a while it was a Klingon thing but,.... No.
Nope. It's the decline of civilization.
But in truth I often do find myself removing a few commas when I review my stuff before posting. One doesn't have to pause for breath as often as my first draft usually allows.
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