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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:40:55 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] san rrcom>
wrote:
>> I was taught that a comma can be used to show a slight pause in a
>> sentence and/or to clarify the intended meaning.
>
>And where did you learn this?
Sorry!
Quoting you
"Exactly how do you know that?" is reasonably a question.
"And exactly how do you know that?" sounds like an accusation.
LOL
At primary school about 50 years ago, so I might have misremembered. I
do sometimes, you know :)
I just asked Regan, my wife and she looked at me as if I had forgotten
to put my trousers on. She agrees as does
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/comma
In speech it it called a caesura.
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:53:33 -0400, Sabrina Kilian <"ykgp at
vtSPAM.edu"> wrote:
>
>I was taught the same in grade school; that the comma could be used to
>indicate a pause. By college, my English professor tried to remove that
>bad habit. Losing 3 letter grades on one draft just from misplaced
>commas taught me better then all the rules she could quote.
>
Academics, know all, know f' all (pardon my French :)
>Do I dare tell her that what I really learned was: "If you can't figure
>out where to put the comma then just re-write the sentence."
I dare you to, with a baseball bat. :)
Being dyslexic, school, was the, bane of, my life,,,.
--
Regards
Stephen
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Stephen wrote:
> LOL
Yeah. To be fair, I think without the "exactly" it gets ambiguous. :-)
> I just asked Regan, my wife and she looked at me as if I had forgotten
> to put my trousers on.
Trousers. Right. British English. Different rules, as I said.
> In speech it it called a caesura.
No doubt a pause there emphasizes the part you want to emphasize.
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
Helpful housekeeping hints:
Check your feather pillows for holes
before putting them in the washing machine.
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I have heard that when his editor corrected a sentance ending in a
preposition Churchill responded, "That is the kind of nonsense upwith I
shall not put!"
--
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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:20:46 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom>
wrote:
>
>Trousers. Right. British English. Different rules, as I said.
As you said ;)
--
Regards
Stephen
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Warp wrote:
> I have to admit I have no idea if this contraction is wrong or acceptable.
> It *sounds* wrong to me, but how should I know? The answer to this is also
> something just impossible to find with google:
>
> "The rest of it is not difficult." -> "The rest of it's not difficult."
>
What most people end up saying (whether it's correct or not) sounds like
"it snot", which we use quite often as a pun at work (snot being the
stuff you pick out of your nose).
...Chambers
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Warp wrote:
>> All three of these aren't correct.
>
> Btw, wouldn't it be better to say "none of these three are correct"?
Nope.
It would be better to say "none of these three *is* correct".
</nitpick>
--
Aim Low, Reach Your Goals, Avoid Disappointment.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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Darren New wrote:
> separating two halves of one sentence. I understand British English is
> more relaxed about where commas go.
I was taught the opposite.
American English: I bought a pen, paper, and eraser.
British English: I bought a pen, paper and eraser.
We were told that in British English, when writing out lists like the
above, there should never be a comma before "and". I also hear that this
rule is rarely taught anymore...
--
Aim Low, Reach Your Goals, Avoid Disappointment.
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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Mueen Nawaz wrote:
> We were told that in British English, when writing out lists like
> the above, there should never be a comma before "and". I also hear that
> this rule is rarely taught anymore...
My understanding is in that case the comma is optional. (I always put it
there, because I'm a nerd.) It's required when you have multiple
conjunctive clauses together:
"The three couple are John and Sally, Fred and Mary, and Bill and Sue."
--
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
Helpful housekeeping hints:
Check your feather pillows for holes
before putting them in the washing machine.
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Darren New wrote:
> Mueen Nawaz wrote:
>> We were told that in British English, when writing out lists like
>> the above, there should never be a comma before "and". I also hear
>> that this rule is rarely taught anymore...
>
> My understanding is in that case the comma is optional. (I always put it
> there, because I'm a nerd.) It's required when you have multiple
I guess I wasn't clear. What I was taught was that it's optional,
unless it's British English where it's wrong.
--
If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
/\ /\ /\ /
/ \/ \ u e e n / \/ a w a z
>>>>>>mue### [at] nawazorg<<<<<<
anl
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