Obsessive Rep Point Checkers Club (Volume IV)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ctairo

Why Isn't IGNORE Available in RL?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 21, 2009
Messages
771
Reaction score
119
Location
USA
I've found that to be a question almost as divisive as "what way do you hang the toilet paper?"

I use two spaces
Really? I used to. Old habits. Then, I stopped.

Now I use zero spaces. Savesalotoftime.Trufax.

Actually, I use one. If I ever have to go back to a typewriter, I might use two.
 

Vince524

Are you gonna finish that bacon?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
15,903
Reaction score
4,652
Location
In a house
Website
vincentmorrone.com
Crap. I better stop using 2 I guess.

Hard to concentrate on that while I'm in the middle of an emotional scene.
 

slcboston

Pasture-ized
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
50,312
Reaction score
29,060
Location
Second Star To The Right
I would, but I don't know what it is.

The American flag is red, white, and blue.


That second comma is the Oxford comma.


(For those who didn't look it up.)

And it's not a huge debate, really, but English teachers tend to get worked up over punctuation.

:D
 

slcboston

Pasture-ized
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
50,312
Reaction score
29,060
Location
Second Star To The Right
Looked it up... I usually use one. Didn't know there was a big debate over its use. I just thought either way was perfectly acceptable.

For example, I have strong feelings about why you should use it, and convey those feelings to my class when we discuss punctuation of lists.

Either way is, technically, grammatically correct, comma or no comma. But I find "no comma" to open itself up to potential confusion, and writing should strive to be clear.


Unless it's philosophy. Then obfuscation is the norm.
 

L.J.

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
34,931
Reaction score
3,870
Well, that was an interesting conversation to me. I get confused about whether, or not to use a comma before and. I generally do. So is my comma before or not correct? Or not? :D
 

slcboston

Pasture-ized
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
50,312
Reaction score
29,060
Location
Second Star To The Right
Well, that was an interesting conversation to me. I get confused about whether, or not to use a comma before and. I generally do. So is my comma before or not correct? Or not? :D

Honestly?

"Or not," as in "whether .... or not," is redundant in and of itself. My law school torts professor drilled that one into my head.

So the comma is kind of moot.

:D
 

slcboston

Pasture-ized
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
50,312
Reaction score
29,060
Location
Second Star To The Right
How is it more confusing? I don't find it more or less confusing. Just annoying!!

The example I use with my students:

I have shirts to sell. The shirts come in colors. If all those colors are solid, it's not much of an issue. For ex: I have red, white, and blue shirts reads much the same as I have red, white and blue shirts.

But what if some are solid colors, and some are patterned? Say, half the shirt is one color, and the other half is a different color. Now, if I say I have red, white and blue, and green shirts, that extra comma becomes much more helpful in determining the number of shirts I have. Without the comma, I have red, white and blue and green shirts, it's harder to tell how many shirts and/or patterns I am talking about.

Therefore, you just ought to use that Oxford comma, and get in the habit of it, so that things are always clear.

:Lecture:
 
Last edited:

L.J.

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
34,931
Reaction score
3,870
Honestly?

"Or not," as in "whether .... or not," is redundant in and of itself. My law school torts professor drilled that one into my head.

So the comma is kind of moot.

:D

Thanks. I'll remember that. :)
 

Brian_G

Sir Brian the Fabulous!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 18, 2011
Messages
12,480
Reaction score
4,267
Location
Illinois, where our governors make our license pla
The example I use with my students:

I have shirts to sell. The shirts come in colors. If all those colors are solid, it's not much of an issue. For ex: I have red, white, and blue shirts reads much the same as I have red, white and blue shirts.

But what if some are solid colors, and some are patterned? Say, half the shirt is one color, and the other half is a different color. Now, if I say I have red, white and blue, and green shirts, that extra comma becomes much more helpful in determining the number of shirts I have. Without the comma, I have red, white and blue and green shirts, it's harder to tell how many shirts and/or patterns I am talking about.

Therefore, you just ought to use that Oxford comma, and get in the habit of it, so that things are always clear.

:Lecture:
:Clap: I was trying to come up with a good example, but went blank.
 

parumpdragon

I sometimes hiccup fire
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2011
Messages
29,042
Reaction score
6,712
Location
Arizona
I am watching I Want That - and they have some cool gadgets.
 

slcboston

Pasture-ized
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
50,312
Reaction score
29,060
Location
Second Star To The Right
Thanks. I'll remember that. :)

My torts professor's point, and one I agree with, is that the use of "whether" already implies an option, and as such adding on "or not" doesn't accomplish anything. While I diverge greatly from many (if not most) of my colleagues in my disdain for Strunk & White's "Elements of Style," I do believe that their axiom of "omit needless words" is generally a good one.

Besides, if you recall your Shakespeare, Hamlet's soliloquy does not go, "Whether tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or not."

:D

:Clap: I was trying to come up with a good example, but went blank.

This is my job, after all.

:thankyou:
 
Last edited:

Vince524

Are you gonna finish that bacon?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2010
Messages
15,903
Reaction score
4,652
Location
In a house
Website
vincentmorrone.com
But that flies in the face of everything I've been hearing about watching word count.

How about: "I got shirts."

There ya go!
 

slcboston

Pasture-ized
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Messages
50,312
Reaction score
29,060
Location
Second Star To The Right
And, Vince, even if punctuation did affect your word count...

Just eliminate that 2nd space at the end of your sentences, and you'll free up more than enough space for the occasional clarifying comma.

:idea:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.