Comments on: Teaching commas won’t help http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/ Academic insights for the thinking world. Mon, 20 May 2013 14:53:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Punctuation Rules! | Wordnik ~ all the words http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/#comment-231513 Punctuation Rules! | Wordnik ~ all the words Fri, 23 Sep 2011 14:28:37 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=16771#comment-231513 [...] her “college students don’t understand commas, far less how to write an essay,” while the OUP Blog asserted that teaching commas doesn’t necessarily equate teaching [...] [...] her “college students don’t understand commas, far less how to write an essay,” while the OUP Blog asserted that teaching commas doesn’t necessarily equate teaching [...]

]]> By: This Week’s Language Blog Roundup | Wordnik ~ all the words http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/#comment-223299 This Week’s Language Blog Roundup | Wordnik ~ all the words Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:13:04 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=16771#comment-223299 [...] Daily Writing Tips discussed the changing meanings of the word freak, while The Independent reported on one man’s war on cliches. Meanwhile, the Oxford University Press Blog proposed that teaching proper comma usage wouldn’t necessarily improve writing. [...] [...] Daily Writing Tips discussed the changing meanings of the word freak, while The Independent reported on one man’s war on cliches. Meanwhile, the Oxford University Press Blog proposed that teaching proper comma usage wouldn’t necessarily improve writing. [...]

]]> By: Chris Rhodes http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/#comment-223167 Chris Rhodes Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:25:51 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=16771#comment-223167 Not sure where you are going with the capitalisation – as a proofreader they are a pain in the proverbial! Clients insist that they are for emphasis, but when you use initial caps extensively you lose all emphasis - stick to English rules. Regarding comma usage, we should all teach its use as: "Do you get the message? Do you understand what I am trying to communicate?" I am personally appalled as to their lack of use, especially when a poorly constructed sentence clearly needs help. Not sure where you are going with the capitalisation – as a proofreader they are a pain in the proverbial! Clients insist that they are for emphasis, but when you use initial caps extensively you lose all emphasis – stick to English rules.
Regarding comma usage, we should all teach its use as: “Do you get the message? Do you understand what I am trying to communicate?” I am personally appalled as to their lack of use, especially when a poorly constructed sentence clearly needs help.

]]> By: Dennis Baron http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/#comment-223115 Dennis Baron Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:43:12 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=16771#comment-223115 Interestingly, Rogers has become the main legal citation for defenders of comma rules. However, the placement of the comma in the Rogers contract is not incorrect, and it should be noted that if the Court's interpretation is based on comma usage rules, then it is based on shifting sands. More pertinent may be the existence of a French version of the contract where the ambiguity may be absent (I have seen references to that French version, but have not found it myself). As I wrote on the Web of Language back in 2006: "the deal between Rogers and Aliant would be just as ambiguous with or without the second comma. To ensure the contract running for a full five years, Rogers would have had to rephrase, not just repunctuate" (http://illinois.edu/db/view/25/1087?count=1&ACTION=DIALOG). Court reliance on grammars and dictionaries as authorities is not new, but it too is subject to critique, as we've seen in recent days in reference to a new essay in the Marquette Law Review: http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5051&context=mulr Interestingly, Rogers has become the main legal citation for defenders of comma rules. However, the placement of the comma in the Rogers contract is not incorrect, and it should be noted that if the Court’s interpretation is based on comma usage rules, then it is based on shifting sands. More pertinent may be the existence of a French version of the contract where the ambiguity may be absent (I have seen references to that French version, but have not found it myself). As I wrote on the Web of Language back in 2006: “the deal between Rogers and Aliant would be just as ambiguous with or without the second comma. To ensure the contract running for a full five years, Rogers would have had to rephrase, not just repunctuate” (http://illinois.edu/db/view/25/1087?count=1&ACTION=DIALOG). Court reliance on grammars and dictionaries as authorities is not new, but it too is subject to critique, as we’ve seen in recent days in reference to a new essay in the Marquette Law Review: http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5051&context=mulr

]]> By: Ray Girvan http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/#comment-223112 Ray Girvan Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:39:34 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=16771#comment-223112 Interesting. At least in US teaching, comma placement seems quite an obsession, as questions from students about this regularly appear on Yahoo! Answers. They often indicate they've been given extremely stringent rules (for instance, when to put a comma after an "and" in a sentence) that don't reflect the variations for timing, style and taste that exist in reality. Interesting. At least in US teaching, comma placement seems quite an obsession, as questions from students about this regularly appear on Yahoo! Answers. They often indicate they’ve been given extremely stringent rules (for instance, when to put a comma after an “and” in a sentence) that don’t reflect the variations for timing, style and taste that exist in reality.

]]> By: BJ Muntain http://blog.oup.com/2011/06/teaching-commas/#comment-223100 BJ Muntain Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:14:04 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=16771#comment-223100 "But documents in which a misplaced comma can mean life or death, or at least the difference between a straightforward contract and a legal nightmare of Bleak House proportions, are myths." Tell that to Rogers: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/article838561.ece “But documents in which a misplaced comma can mean life or death, or at least the difference between a straightforward contract and a legal nightmare of Bleak House proportions, are myths.”

Tell that to Rogers: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/article838561.ece

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