Arthur D. Hlavaty

Oxford wins again in the comma wars

2017-10-06T09:15:37Z

Anne Wiazemsky, Film Star, Wife of Godard and Author, Dies at 70 [Times headline]

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Wandering colon

2017-07-02T12:08:25Z

The 5 best punctuation marks in literature

Thanx to andrewducker

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Commatose

2016-11-25T10:38:56Z

Missing commas, including Bill Cosby’s Come On People

Thanx to Metafilter

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In typo veritas

2016-11-02T12:14:44Z

Proud to Be British hoodie needs an apostrophe. Reminds me of the cover of Bill Cosby’s Come On, People leaving out the comma.

Thanx to andrewducker

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T. Herman Zweibel would turn over in his grave

2014-12-16T11:57:25Z

Amazon goes to war against the hyphen.

Thanx to andrewducker

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Semi

2014-10-26T15:30:36Z

Donald E. Westlake defends the semicolon. This is from his nonfiction collection The Getaway Car, which everyone should read.

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Don't be commatose

2014-05-01T11:04:28Z

The importance of the comma (with stupid HuffPost headline)

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;

2014-03-24T10:37:49Z

As you know, Bob, Kurt Vonnegut said that we are what we pretend to be and then pretended to be a lovable simpleton. Since we are at most also what we pretend to be, Vonnegut remained a brilliant writer most of the time, but every so often he would say something like “Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.” Not only is the semicolon a useful device for people who do not want to write like lovable simpletons, but it can save lives.

Thanx to Chronicle

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The Importance of Punctuation

2011-12-01T14:58:56Z

1. Commas
* Let's eat, Grandma
* Let's eat Grandma

2. Capital Letters
* helping my Uncle Jack off a horse
* helping my uncle jack off a horse

3. Apostrophes
* a business that knows its shit
* a business that knows it's shit

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Not yet commatose

2011-06-30T10:12:18Z

Oxford has not abandoned the Oxford comma; its PR department has, thus perhaps demonstrating that a PR department is a PR department anywhere.

Thanx to Lisa Gold: Research Maven et al.

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Dash it all!

2011-05-24T20:54:10Z

The case against dash abuse.

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Commatose

2011-03-25T10:20:18Z

In the proud tradition of Bill Cosby's COME ON PEOPLE, Tails Magazine suggests Rachael Ray's secret ingredient.

Thanx to Making Light et al.

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Punctuation slash

2010-10-22T20:19:31Z

Leaving out the serial comma is forgivable, but only when it produces something this funny.

Thanx to papersky

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