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Yep. My text looks fine in the edit box and cramped in the post. I probably sing better in the shower too.
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an e.e. cummings moment Quote:
It is two spaces AFTER a period, not BEFORE. And one space after a comma or other mid sentence break, (e.g. semicolon). And yes you have entered an alternate universe; it was a while ago; life as you knew it changed on October 17, 1978 6:25 am GMT. Relax, your pants are just down around your ankles. |
I actually had a dot-comma argument with my partner about a writing style issue. On the phone, he says to me "No comma between the last two elements of a list; from Strunk and White". So, I pull the book down from my shelf and it says the oppposite as in: "blue, green, red, and yellow" So, I used that style on our company web site.
But, in modern practice my partner was right. In many ways modern usage has evolved from the time of Strunk and White. Now a better guide is the AP Style Book by Associated Press. http://www.apstylebook.com |
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To me, not having the final comma makes it look like the last two elements are a part of a whole. A more illustrative example of this might be something like: "An airplane, a spaceship, cars, and trucks." To write it "an airplane, a spaceship, cars and trucks" sets cars and trucks as a part of a whole i.e. cars and trucks as land-roving vehicles. I don't think I'm explaining myself very well, but I do remember being taught to put the comma before the 'and' in a list. |
Yes, I totally agree with you S123. As a computer scientist my feeling is that without the comma, the statement doesn't type check.
But, after this argument that I had, I noticed professional journalists don't use the comma anymore. I was arguing with a guy who was an Editor in Chief of several publications. It's a stupid convention, but that's the way it's done now. Commas are important. "Eats shoots and leaves" or "Eats, shoots and leaves"? |
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I think you would all enjoy reading the relatively recent book by Lynne Truss , entitled 'Eats , Shoots and Leaves '. It was in every Brit's Christmas stocking two years ago .
The title shows how much the incorrect use of a comma can transform a sentence . In this particular case , the diet of a panda can be misconstrued as being something to do with a Far-West shoot-out . |
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Until I had a partnership with AP, I didn't realize how ubiquitous their content is. |
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