Nuh-uh. It's more the Jim Morrison in his prime of punctuation.
The serial comma or the semi-colon?
Mal: There's plenty orders of mine that she didn't obey. Wash: Name one! Mal: She married you!
'War Stories'
Delurking 1: Because we don't always check our e-mail.
Steph L. - Oct 11, 2009 7:41:34 am PDT #936 of 3094
Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe
Steph L. - Oct 11, 2009 7:43:14 am PDT #937 of 3094
Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe
Haters to the left.
Ladies, form a line to my left for makeouts! Dudes, form a line to my right for high fives!
DavidS - Oct 11, 2009 7:44:13 am PDT #938 of 3094
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Man, I don't understand people against the serial comma. It can only help and never hurt. Haters to the left.
Because it's not necessary in most instances and slows down the sentence. I'm against unnecessary punctuation. If you need that last comma to make the series clear, then by all means. If not - do not. You can't just go making up whackass Prescriptivist rules to hang drop earrings all over your sentence. No wait - you can! That's why they're whackass.
The rule is - and should be - use the comma only as necessary.
P.M. Marc - Oct 11, 2009 7:44:24 am PDT #939 of 3094
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
The serial comma or the semi-colon?
Semi-colon.
P.M. Marc - Oct 11, 2009 7:45:03 am PDT #940 of 3094
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
Your parents, God and Ayn Rand, clearly warped you as a child, David.
Polter-Cow - Oct 11, 2009 7:48:37 am PDT #941 of 3094
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
The rule is - and should be - use the comma only as necessary.
That's not a rule; that's a recipe for disaster. The serial comma provides consistency.
Barb - Oct 11, 2009 7:50:44 am PDT #942 of 3094
“Not dead yet!”
Your parents, God and Ayn Rand, clearly warped you as a child, David.
::snickers quietly in the corner::
DavidS - Oct 11, 2009 7:51:33 am PDT #943 of 3094
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Look, ya'll can make up a broadly generalized rule that has limited application and stick it all over your sentences.
For example, any sentence with Billy Joel in it requires a semi-colon; he's just that awesome!
But you don't need a generalized rule about serial commas. You use the commas when it properly helps to convey the meaning you intend.
And it is nothing less than fustian to put a comma in before "and" in most cases.
DavidS - Oct 11, 2009 7:53:26 am PDT #944 of 3094
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
That's not a rule; that's a recipe for disaster. The serial comma provides consistency.
::Extends Hobgoblin Extractor into the narrow corridors of P-Cow's mind::
Glamcookie - Oct 11, 2009 7:57:08 am PDT #945 of 3094
I know my own heart and understand my fellow man. But I am made unlike anyone I have ever met. I dare to say I am like no one in the whole world. - Anne Lister
Up with the serial comma!