Let's face it, you can't, can't, use too many, commas that is, no matter you're in Oxford, or not.......same with periods.
Let's face it, you can't, can't, use too many, commas that is, no matter you're in Oxford, or not.......same with periods.
Rick Potter
DIY journeyman,
FWW wannabe.
AKA Village Idiot.
Unless it has changed since I earned a degree in journalism back in the early 80s, The Associated Press Style Manual (the bible for print style) said it (Oxford comma) was to be omitted unless it was needed for clarity, such as to prevent folks from showing up at the wrong event, etc. That said, I'm not sure the folks at my local paper have ever taken an English class, much less been instructed on AP Style matters.
Don't get me started on using 12 a.m. and 12 p.m. or saying something is the "first annual."
It's called golf because all the other 4-letter words were taken
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
I never answer when someone asks for advise.
Commas: they're not just for Oxford anymore:
Lets Eat Bob.jpg
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
I'm a fan of the tilde, since I often speak in generalities, or more precisely, approximatalities.
True. But AP Style advocated against that because not all civilians are familiar with the 24 hour clock. The proper usage was noon and midnight to avoid confusion. The goal was to avoid confusion and aid clarity. As far as the comma not being used unless absolutely necessary, the reason for that, which I forgot above, was to save space since a newspaper column was very limited. There were many such things, such as Vietnam instead of Viet Nam or using postal abbreviations (TN as opposed to Tenn.).
It's called golf because all the other 4-letter words were taken
This is probably similar to 24:00 and 00:00 - for which there is a rule even though they are both the same.
At one time one of my coworkers insisted 12 Noon should be 12 AM. Knowing him, he likely missed a job interview because someone told him to be there at 12 PM.
My explanation to him was that since it takes about a second to say 12 PM, it would be 12:00:01 by the time it was said, therefore it would be 12 PM anyway. Plus to make life easy, we have terms like midnight and noon.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
For clarity teachers learned to make assignments due at 11:59 Pm. or 12:01 AM.
Is zero positive or negative?
Bill D