Thursday, April 19, 2012

I Want My Commas!

Ok, I will be the first to admit that I have a comma addiction. If there were a group called CAA (Comma Abusers Anonymous) I would be their founding member.

I love my little happy marks of pausing. Little precious demarcations of a moment of thought, or breath, or at least a chance to keep confusing bits from smashing into each other and creating a giant mess. (“Let’s eat, Grandpa.” verses “Let’s eat Grandpa.”.)

Now to be fair, commas are pretty free flowing, hippies of the grammar world if you will, there are a few hard and fast rules, but a large portion of regular comma usage is personal judgment. Don’t believe me? Try looking in two or more grammar books ;).

However, as of late, one of my most beloved common uses for a comma has been falling to the wayside. Nay, some publishers have gone so far as to remove this comma completely during their editing process!

It’s the serial comma. That one that used to be there so that you knew if you were having apples, oranges, and bananas (separate and unique pieces of fruit). As opposed to apples, and a bowl that combined oranges and bananas such as what is indicated to me by, “apples, oranges and bananas”.

The beginning of the end for this most beloved little comma started with journalistic writing. Magazines, journals, and newspapers kicked this comma to the curb long ago. But academic and literary writing hung onto it. And I always made sure I had them. To me they just make things more tidy.

But more and more my commas are being taken away. I’m reading novels where the serial comma has been removed on all occasions!

I know at some point I’ll run against an editor who makes me remove my own serial commas, but they can pry them out of my cold dead keyboard.

14 comments:

  1. I'm with you on that one! I came across a recent case of CRS (comma reduction surgery) when a publisher said we no longer need it for the word "too" at the end of a sentence. As in no longer "I went, too." It's "I went too." What's up with that? It just doesn't look right. ;o I want my pause! My first book earned me the title "Comma Queen" with my editor, so I am right there with you on this issue. Too. ^_^

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    1. *High fives Kayelle* YES! I completely agree with you!...Damn it, that's another missing comma I can be annoyed about...

      Thanks for coming by, us comma-aholics need to stick together!

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  2. As a reader, I hate when they take away commas because they help pace a sentence when I read... A comma can really help you identify and emphasize certain words and phrases...

    So I like them too! LOL

    Lisa

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    1. Agreed, Lisa! I hate it when I have to re-read something because the comma is gone. It's annoying, and most likly the fault of this "new grammar" which really doesn't help anyone.

      Thanks for coming by!

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  3. Believe it or not, I don't have an opinion on serial commas. If someone wants to pay me money for a book I wrote, I'm good either way. In fact, I presently have contracts with two publishers--one uses the serial comma, the other doesn't. And I'm finding that it's really no problem to 'swing both ways' ;)

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    1. LOL! But how would you feel if it were your call? Trust me, if an editor asks for my work, but says their publishing house hates my little beloved commas, and I'll give them up.

      Still doesn't mean I'll change my opnion on them though ;)

      Thanks for coming by Melissa!

      Marie Andreas- trapped in the day job, blogging as annonymous ;)

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  4. I'm with you, Marie! At least National Punctuation Day endorses the Oxford comma:
    http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/serialcomma.html

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    1. WOO!!! Thank you e_journeys :). We should make it a holiday- with parties! Ok, ok, so I'm just happy my comma still has some supporters!

      Thanks so much for coming by!

      Marie Andreas- trapped in the day job, blogging as annonymous

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  5. Hello. I'm Sophia, and I have a comma addiction. I learned in school to use the serial comma, but in my first job out of college (in the writing field), my boss informed me that "we don't do that here." At my next job, also in the writing field, the boss insisted that we use it. Yea! At my next job, AP style was our bible, which forbids the serial comma. The next job, well I was pretty experienced by this time, and I made sure everything I wrote and edited had correct comma usage. I adopted the Chicago Style Manual (from college days) as my bible and spread the word far and wide, trying to convert my fellow writers/editors. Too dramatic? OK, let's just say that if I have a choice, I'm putting it in because it belongs there! Great post! Sophia

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    1. YES! LOL- Sophia, I am so with you as we try to convert them.
      That little comma just makes my reading 9and writing) mind rest much easier :).

      Thanks for coming by!

      Marie Andreas- trapped in the day job, blogging as annonymous

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  6. Bless you, Maria! As an editor,I've been called...to my virtual face, mind you...Head of the Puncutation Police to a Comma Nazi... Grr-r-r. But until the Chicago Manual of Style (spoken with hushed reverence) dictates otherwise, the Oxford comma IS proper comma usage...even if Oxford declares differently! Frankly, I should receive a royalty check on Eats, Shoots and Leaves, considering how many times I've referred this fine (and funny) book to stubborn, mechanically challenged authors. And, further, I abhor comma misuse equally as bad, e.g., comma splices...but that's a rant for a different day.
    Thanks for your post, Marie.
    Joelle Walker, editor

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    1. Thank YOU Joelle! We need to support our comma! And I'd say that you should wear the names like a badge of honor :).

      Marie Andreas- trapped in the day job, blogging as annonymous

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  7. I'm a staunch supporter of the serial comma. I regularly write for a publisher that dislikes commas in general and forbids both the serial comma and the comma that divides two independent clauses from each other (unless the writer can make a strong case for a particular instance). Drives me crazy. The philosophy is something like "too many commas confuse the reader." Speak for yourself. I get confused by having to stop and reread a sentence to figure out the meaning because it isn't punctuated correctly.

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    1. Thanks for coming by Margaret. I completely agree with your comment about the trend against commas. Do they really think readers are getting stupider? I find it much more enjoyable to have the commas in, as opposed to having to stop to figure the meaning.

      Marie Andreas- trapped in the day job, blogging as annonymous

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