I am a Comma Whore
They called me a name at work today. American Comma Whore. Ouch.
I use too many commas. I know I use too many commas. I like commas, plus I like to use commas to help approximate the cadence of my speech, and I am a fan of long-winded sentences that go on endlessly, with lots of descriptors to ensure you catch every nuance of my topic or story. You read me. You know whereof I speak.
The English, they're not really fans of the comma. In fact, they hate the comma. They hate the comma almost as much as they love the "u".
Since I write for a living, the spelling and the punctuation can be quite critical. For instance, they would not separate, "Since I write for a living," from the rest of the last sentence...they'd just run it on into "the spelling...." That just seems wrong to me. I've consulted my grammar books, and the comma is a legitimate separator of two sentences when joined by a conjunction, as I am doing in that sentence above (and this one, for that matter.)
Sure, I engage in some gratuitous comma usage now and again. If you were paying WAY too much attention to this blog, you'd notice that I occasionally go back and edit the commas out of my work. I don't want to be a bad writer, and bad punctuation is the hallmark of bad writing, along with bad spelling and the misuse of than/then and all those "to/two/too's". I want to be smart, witty and well-punctuated so that echo and dale do not ridicule me in the comments.
Sigh. I think it's time to read Eats, Shoots and Leaves again.
I use too many commas. I know I use too many commas. I like commas, plus I like to use commas to help approximate the cadence of my speech, and I am a fan of long-winded sentences that go on endlessly, with lots of descriptors to ensure you catch every nuance of my topic or story. You read me. You know whereof I speak.
The English, they're not really fans of the comma. In fact, they hate the comma. They hate the comma almost as much as they love the "u".
Since I write for a living, the spelling and the punctuation can be quite critical. For instance, they would not separate, "Since I write for a living," from the rest of the last sentence...they'd just run it on into "the spelling...." That just seems wrong to me. I've consulted my grammar books, and the comma is a legitimate separator of two sentences when joined by a conjunction, as I am doing in that sentence above (and this one, for that matter.)
Sure, I engage in some gratuitous comma usage now and again. If you were paying WAY too much attention to this blog, you'd notice that I occasionally go back and edit the commas out of my work. I don't want to be a bad writer, and bad punctuation is the hallmark of bad writing, along with bad spelling and the misuse of than/then and all those "to/two/too's". I want to be smart, witty and well-punctuated so that echo and dale do not ridicule me in the comments.
Sigh. I think it's time to read Eats, Shoots and Leaves again.
Comments
The point of punctuation is to make written words easy to read, yes, there some conventions, but language is constantly evolving, and as much as some people might like to pretend that grammar is a constant, it is not.
I don't think that bad punctuation is the hallmark of bad writing, nor is poor spelling (although that might just be wishful thinking on this poor spellers part) I would rather read a lively, creativly punctuated piece of writing than one which bores me but is written according to the rules.
Mock them for their pretentious "u" (although, I have to admit, I find it pretties up mundane words, but don't tell them that).
Plus,I am also a pro, albeit an untrained one with zero cred, having aquired my experience on the job, under the tutelage of trained editors. They seldom fault me for excess commas and I, too, adore the run on sentence - mimicking, as it does, true speech. I am also a fan of the em-dash, but that is neither here nor there, is it?
Comma on with your bad self.
Tonight! We sail!
I'm guilty of the extra u usage, spelling cheque properly and even of being a bad neighbour at times and make no apologies. Then again, I'm not a professional, just a jackass.
MJ - I lurve every comma you've ever placed. :-)
Everyone else? Suck it.