The New OCD - Obsessive Comma Disorder

There are two types of people in the world: those who use a discreet smattering of commas, and those who drown their copy in enough commas to cause the reader to asphyxiate.

Because this is the age of brevity, the comma rules we learned in school don't necessarily apply anymore. Stuff we learned in school tended to be long-winded and overly correct. Now, correctness is measured by how short you can make your document and still get your information across. In the world of commas, that translates to: only use a comma when you suspect your reader might go into respiratory failure.

OCD Style:

Assembling your new KittyzGymTM, is easy, as long as you have tools. Or, toolz, as we say here, at KittyzGym, the headquarters.

OCD Free:

Assembling your new KittyzGymTM  requires tools.

(A side-effect of deleting unneeded commas is that huge chunks of verbage simply vanish.) 


OCD Style:

Butter, the bain of Chef Eusebio's existence, and something we all like, right?, can be used in a healthy way, depending on, whether the butter is clarified, or ghee.

OCD Free:

Chef Eusebio prefers clarified butter, or ghee.

Eliminating commas when proofreading is a quick way to clarify the instruction booklet you've just written for your client's new home assembly circuit board kit. Yes, you want it readable because then people will say that your document is wonderful. It can go into your resume. But basically if it's readable, people will follow the directions and glue their fingers together less often. 

(c) 2015 Suzann Kale