Commas - Grammar's Intuitive Fashion Star

I was co-authoring a piece with another writer. It turned out we had two different comma styles.

Neither one was right or wrong, they were just different.

Some parts of English grammar are untouchable. Commas are not. They are fluid. They change with the times. They are almost artistic in the way that we indulge them. It is less "where must this comma go?" than "where do I feel this comma?". 

When we baby boomers were in grade school, we were taught that in a list of three things, the comma was left off the third thing. So for instance:

If the bomb hits, children should run to the hallway, the bathroom or the closet.

Legalese followed this no-comma-on-the-third-thing rule.

As we grew older, we realized it didn't make sense. So we wrote:

If the bomb hits, children should run to the hallway, the bathroom, or the closet.

Now that felt better, and I know I felt more comfortable about the whole thing.

No one will call you on a wrong comma. Commas are artistic. You put them where you need them for breathing, for emphasis, or for logic. 

Which means - take care when placing your commas. Give it some thought. Make it make sense.

In the olden days (baby boomer time), people put commas all over the place, willy nilly. Now, in modern times, the comma style is generally more sparse. We take fewer breaths when we speak (or read), and we like things streamlined. 

What is your commas style?


(c) 2014 Suzann Kale

Tags: Commas, punctuation