The Gatepost Vol. 7.7: Comma Caution
Item
Title
The Gatepost Vol. 7.7: Comma Caution
Description
"COMMA CAUTION
Be gentle to the comma with its curly little tail: Though dainty and diminutive, its power turns one pale I
It causes much confusion when neglected or misplaced,
So slur it not through ignorance, nor hobble it through haste 1
Expressions parenthetical (however or said he), All nominatives of address, appositives aussi, Inverted-order clauses, which come before the main,
The members of a series (Lizzie, Annabel, and Jane),
Long phrases introductory containing verbal parts, All nonrestrictive elements (“His hobby, which is arts—”),
Dates, addresses in detail (10 Broadway, Hartford, Conn.),
Or (Saturday, June, ’36), and, last to ponder on, The parts of compound sentences ("Ike hops, but Willie flees")—
All these require commas tucked in their interstices.
One may not move a mountain, but one may preserve a state
By cultivating commas. . . . And tomorrow is too late!
Harold Willard Gleason."
Be gentle to the comma with its curly little tail: Though dainty and diminutive, its power turns one pale I
It causes much confusion when neglected or misplaced,
So slur it not through ignorance, nor hobble it through haste 1
Expressions parenthetical (however or said he), All nominatives of address, appositives aussi, Inverted-order clauses, which come before the main,
The members of a series (Lizzie, Annabel, and Jane),
Long phrases introductory containing verbal parts, All nonrestrictive elements (“His hobby, which is arts—”),
Dates, addresses in detail (10 Broadway, Hartford, Conn.),
Or (Saturday, June, ’36), and, last to ponder on, The parts of compound sentences ("Ike hops, but Willie flees")—
All these require commas tucked in their interstices.
One may not move a mountain, but one may preserve a state
By cultivating commas. . . . And tomorrow is too late!
Harold Willard Gleason."