Prose from a Poshboy

[BorntoBubble]

^^^

Please!

Standards are slipping here, I think.

Another, pointless, comma! You, wouldn't, pause, when, saying, it, IRL, and, there's, no, way, the, sentence, could, have, another, meaning!

FYP

[tikay]

Just for you, Alex, just for, well, you know, you.

[Tal]

Yeh I just mean when people use them like "Thanks for the advice, Tal", I don't think there should be a comma there because it doesn't flow properly and you'd never pause before the "Tal" if you were saying it and there's no other meaning of the sentence so it wouldn't be misunderstood if you just wrote "Thanks for the advice Tal".

And breathe.

Alex thinks Tal is a nit.

Add two commas to get:

Alex, thinks Tal, is a nit.


FWIW, I'm not all that anal about examples like the one you gave above. Language is about communication and communication is about the audience (whoever you're talking to). People who write to Tesco because it says "Ten Items or Less" or walk into a butcher's and complain that it says Lamb Cutlet's have a place in Hell waiting for them.

When producing a piece of written work like a book or other publication, that's a different matter and you should generally be correct.

Owning a copy of Fowler's Modern English Usage is a necessary quality of a gentleman, nevertheless.

[tikay]

Alex, owned in his own Diary, and by a fellow Posh sort, no less.

Superb exampleage there with that mini- sentence.

[Tal]

Found a fun one: http://grammar.about.com/od/punctuationandmechanics/a/punctmatters07.htm



If you happen to work in the legal division of Rogers Communications Inc., you've already learned the lesson that punctuation matters. According to Toronto's Globe and Mail for August 6, 2006, a misplaced comma in a contract to string cable lines along utility poles may cost the Canadian company a whopping $2.13 million.

Back in 2002, when the company signed off on a contract with Aliant Inc., the folks at Rogers were confident that they had locked up a long-term agreement. They were surprised, therefore, when in early 2005 Aliant gave notice of a hefty rate-hike--and even more surprised when regulators with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) backed their claim.

It's all right there on page seven of the contract, where it states that the agreement "shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.”

The devil is in the details--or, more specifically, in the second comma. “Based on the rules of punctuation,” observed the CRTC regulators, the comma in question “allows for the termination of the [contract] at any time, without cause, upon one-year's written notice.”

Without that second comma after "successive five year claims," the business about terminating the contract would apply only to successive terms, which is what Rogers' lawyers thought they were agreeing to. However, with the addition of the comma, the phrase "and thereafter for successive five year terms" is treated as an interruption.

Certainly that's how Aliant treated it. They didn't wait for that first "period of five years" to expire before giving notice of the rate hike, and thanks to the extra comma, they didn't have to.

“This is a classic case of where the placement of a comma has great importance,” Aliant said. Indeed.

[LB44]

wat's going on here! someone catch me up.

walster can't sing and has the sort of bird whose shit you would use for toothpaste

Quoted. For truth.

Walster and Rosie together? I doubt that...

[cambridgealex]

Right. A lot of bs in this diary the last 10 pages. Let's sort it out and get it back on track.

I've made day two of the most hilarious tournament ever!

Get this, it's a TEN EURO re-entry freezeout. With FIVE DAY ONES! I played 1a, 1b, no joy. Third time lucky today though, I've made it through to sunday's day 2!   There's a 150k gte! Have good chips, getting near that 14euro mincash

Have made a slightly more exciting day two, with 50 left and 25k for first so looking forward to that tomorrow.

[AlunB]

Can't believe I missed a discussion on excessive punctuation. Don't even get even get me started on semicolons.

[Tal]

Can't believe I missed a discussion on excessive punctuation. Don't even get even get me started on semicolons.

I think you probably mean don't get me started on semicolons. Although I believe Tal's Semicolon Thread would be a rampaging success, this is probably one occasion where it is better to leave the audience wanting more.

[tikay]

Can't believe I missed a discussion on excessive punctuation. Don't even get even get me started on semicolons.

I think you probably mean don't get me started on semicolons. Although I believe Tal's Semicolon Thread would be a rampaging success, this is probably one occasion where it is better to leave the audience wanting more.

Ooh yes, start it!

Or at least a "Punctuation Thread", it'd be a storming success.

Not really fair on Alex's Diary to clutter it with what he described as "bs", - although he did start it - so get one started so we can have a proper chunter about punctuation.

[AlunB]

Can't believe I missed a discussion on excessive punctuation. Don't even get even get me started on semicolons.

I think you probably mean don't get me started on semicolons. Although I believe Tal's Semicolon Thread would be a rampaging success, this is probably one occasion where it is better to leave the audience wanting more.

I really shouldn't type before 11am. Although there is something wonderfully impassioned about the errors in that sentence. The semicolon is worse than pointless in my job. I hate it.

[AlunB]

Found a fun one: http://grammar.about.com/od/punctuationandmechanics/a/punctmatters07.htm



If you happen to work in the legal division of Rogers Communications Inc., you've already learned the lesson that punctuation matters. According to Toronto's Globe and Mail for August 6, 2006, a misplaced comma in a contract to string cable lines along utility poles may cost the Canadian company a whopping $2.13 million.

Back in 2002, when the company signed off on a contract with Aliant Inc., the folks at Rogers were confident that they had locked up a long-term agreement. They were surprised, therefore, when in early 2005 Aliant gave notice of a hefty rate-hike--and even more surprised when regulators with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) backed their claim.

It's all right there on page seven of the contract, where it states that the agreement "shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.”

The devil is in the details--or, more specifically, in the second comma. “Based on the rules of punctuation,” observed the CRTC regulators, the comma in question “allows for the termination of the [contract] at any time, without cause, upon one-year's written notice.”

Without that second comma after "successive five year claims," the business about terminating the contract would apply only to successive terms, which is what Rogers' lawyers thought they were agreeing to. However, with the addition of the comma, the phrase "and thereafter for successive five year terms" is treated as an interruption.

Certainly that's how Aliant treated it. They didn't wait for that first "period of five years" to expire before giving notice of the rate hike, and thanks to the extra comma, they didn't have to.

“This is a classic case of where the placement of a comma has great importance,” Aliant said. Indeed.

I have a friend who is a contract lawyer. I once asked him what he did all day, and he said: 'Looking for commas in the wrong place.' World's highest paid proofreaders.

[Tal]

Ha!

Last mention unless requested, I promise: TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) wrote a famous book called Seven Pillars of Wisdom in which he credited George Bernard Shaw and his wife for their help and assistance...and for all the semi-colons that appear in the book.

Enough of this grammar porn (insert Wayne Rooney joke here). Alex, your thread is returned.

[cambridgealex]

Thank you. Why has nobody wished me luck for my 10euro day two yet?!

[outragous76]

Found a fun one: http://grammar.about.com/od/punctuationandmechanics/a/punctmatters07.htm



If you happen to work in the legal division of Rogers Communications Inc., you've already learned the lesson that punctuation matters. According to Toronto's Globe and Mail for August 6, 2006, a misplaced comma in a contract to string cable lines along utility poles may cost the Canadian company a whopping $2.13 million.

Back in 2002, when the company signed off on a contract with Aliant Inc., the folks at Rogers were confident that they had locked up a long-term agreement. They were surprised, therefore, when in early 2005 Aliant gave notice of a hefty rate-hike--and even more surprised when regulators with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) backed their claim.

It's all right there on page seven of the contract, where it states that the agreement "shall continue in force for a period of five years from the date it is made, and thereafter for successive five year terms, unless and until terminated by one year prior notice in writing by either party.”

The devil is in the details--or, more specifically, in the second comma. “Based on the rules of punctuation,” observed the CRTC regulators, the comma in question “allows for the termination of the [contract] at any time, without cause, upon one-year's written notice.”

Without that second comma after "successive five year claims," the business about terminating the contract would apply only to successive terms, which is what Rogers' lawyers thought they were agreeing to. However, with the addition of the comma, the phrase "and thereafter for successive five year terms" is treated as an interruption.

Certainly that's how Aliant treated it. They didn't wait for that first "period of five years" to expire before giving notice of the rate hike, and thanks to the extra comma, they didn't have to.

“This is a classic case of where the placement of a comma has great importance,” Aliant said. Indeed.

I have a friend who is a contract lawyer. I once asked him what he did all day, and he said: 'Looking for commas in the wrong place.' World's highest paid proofreaders.

Commercial property leases dont have punctuation, they can be fun to read