• tacosplease@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    2 months ago

    Commas are somewhat discouraged… or at least discretion with commas is encouraged. We have a rule about commas. “If in doubt, don’t.”

    We should only use commas for certain prescribed circumstances or if the comma is necessary for clarity.

    That said I will defend the Oxford comma to my last breath.

    • kieron115@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      edit-2
      2 months ago

      The irony being that now people use ellipses to mark a sentence pause, which isn’t really how an ellipsis is meant to be used. They were supposed to be for removing unnecessary but implied language from quotes. Agreed on the oxford comma though.

      • tacosplease@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 months ago

        Yeah I like the … despite knowing it’s really for something like a trailing list. Its use seems regional even within the US. Our business partners in Chicago didn’t like it when we included the dots in emails.

      • kieron115@startrek.website
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 month ago

        Oh good point. When you nest something into commas like that the sentence is supposed to still make sense when you remove the bit between the commas.