The humble comma..

[Morgan]

Not something to be ignored. It's lack of presence can make a sentence very ambiguous.

 

We read a restaurant review earlier in the year, it went like this:

 

'The food was excellent and the portions were of a good size".

 

'The waitress was lovely and very cheap - a group of us shared the cost".   

 

This came into my mind, after reading a post yesterday, which informed us that a cat had regularly attended Tynecastle in the 90's and the 00's.  

 

 

 

 

[henrysmithsgloves]

This you Morgan 😆

 

[Morgan]

1 minute ago, henrysmithsgloves said:

This you Morgan 😆

 

 

Wrong colour of shirt, Henry.  

[henrysmithsgloves]

1 minute ago, Morgan said:

 

Wrong colour of shirt, Henry.  

👍🏻😆

[JWL]

1 hour ago, Morgan said:

Not something to be ignored. It's lack of presence can make a sentence very ambiguous.

 

We read a restaurant review earlier in the year, it went like this:

 

'The food was excellent and the portions were of a good size".

 

'The waitress was lovely and very cheap - a group of us shared the cost".   

 

This came into my mind, after reading a post yesterday, which informed us that a cat had regularly attended Tynecastle in the 90's and the 00's.  

 

 

 

 

 

This may or may not have been a sub-line on rolling Sky News

 

Happy Days, actor Tom Bosley dies.........................when it should have read Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley dies.

[Darren]

7 minutes ago, JWL said:

 

This may or may not have been a sub-line on rolling Sky News

 

Happy Days, actor Tom Bosley dies.........................when it should have read Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley dies.

It shouldn't the second option either. No need for a comma at all.

[JWL]

13 minutes ago, Darren said:

It shouldn't the second option either. No need for a comma at all.

 

Jesus,

[Darren]

Missing a word in my reply there was an absolute classic 😅

[kila]

38 minutes ago, JWL said:

 

This may or may not have been a sub-line on rolling Sky News

 

Happy Days, actor Tom Bosley dies.........................when it should have read Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley dies.

Should it not be:

 

Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley, dies. 
 

[Morgan]

1 minute ago, kila said:

Should it not be:

 

Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley, dies. 
 

That is the correct way. 👍

[JWL]

13 minutes ago, kila said:

Should it not be:

 

Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley, dies. 
 

 

Aye, I missed a comma when slagging of someone who misplaced a comma

[Ray Gin]

2 hours ago, Morgan said:

Not something to be ignored. It's lack of presence can make a sentence very ambiguous.

 

We read a restaurant review earlier in the year, it went like this:

 

'The food was excellent and the portions were of a good size".

 

'The waitress was lovely and very cheap - a group of us shared the cost".   

 

This came into my mind, after reading a post yesterday, which informed us that a cat had regularly attended Tynecastle in the 90's and the 00's.  

 

 

 

 

 

Where would you place a comma to fix that sentence?

 

I think it is missing words rather than missing a comma.

 

[Don Dan]

Is comma the same as coma, asking for a friend! 

[Greedy Jambo]

Not using commas annoys me less than people who moan about people not using commas. 

[Auld Reekin']

38 minutes ago, Ray Gin said:

 

Where would you place a comma to fix that sentence?

 

I think it is missing words rather than missing a comma.

 

 

Three sentences for me:

 

"The food was excellent. The portions were of a good size and very cheap - a group of us shared the cost. The waitress was lovely!"

Edited December 1, 2023 by Auld Reekin'

[Craig_]

Greek paper from yesterday really should have used a comma... 

 

[Lone Striker]

1 hour ago, kila said:

Should it not be:

 

Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley, dies. 
 

On a side note, isn't it a wee bit strange when newspapers or TV news ribbons use the word "dies" ?   As a verb, it suggests that the person did something .....  when in actual fact, the person STOPPED doing something (i.e. breathing)

 

(Hope I got my commas in the right place, @Morgan ) 😜

 

 

[Morgan]

2 hours ago, Ray Gin said:

 

Where would you place a comma to fix that sentence?

 

I think it is missing words rather than missing a comma.

 

Ok, fair enough.

 

The restaurant review just tickled us, and we found the comment about the waitress quite funny.

 

I agree though, a few extra words would have not gone amiss.

 

Did you see yesterdays ‘cat’ comment, Ray?

 

Pick holes with that one!

[Lone Striker]

Right on cue, here's a headline in the Falkirk Herald about "oor bus oot here" getting the chop. 

 

The standard of newspaper editing these days .....  

Falkirk Council: Pilot project where bus passengers will need to book seats agreed by councillors   

 

I'm seething at  having to ask councillors each time  I want to book a seat.            

 

  

 

 

[Morgan]

1 hour ago, Lone Striker said:

On a side note, isn't it a wee bit strange when newspapers or TV news ribbons use the word "dies" ?   As a verb, it suggests that the person did something .....  when in actual fact, the person STOPPED doing something (i.e. breathing)

 

(Hope I got my commas in the right place, @Morgan ) 😜

 

 

 

They, were, spot on, Lone, Striker.

 

👍

 

Just now, Lone Striker said:

Right on cue, here's a headline in the Falkirk Herald about "oor bus oot here" getting the chop. 

 

The standard of newspaper editing these days .....  

Falkirk Council: Pilot project where bus passengers will need to book seats agreed by councillors   

 

I'm seething at  having to ask councillors each time  I want to book a seat.            

 

  

 

 

Comma man likes this post.  👍

 

  

[Greedy Jambo]

 

[Morgan]

I saw this thread and thought of you @spirt of 98 

 

By the way, what is a spirt?

 

Asking for a friend.  

[Morgan]

On 02/12/2023 at 01:29, Jim_Duncan said:

I’d quite like a semi-colon where the comma is in the above-quoted snippet, TBH. 

Aye, fair point.  👍

[Greedy Jambo]

Don't take offense to this @Morgan but pointing out people's spelling mistakes and grammar on a football forum isn't going to win you friends. Hence it's no surprise to me that you're currently fighting with 4 people in real life. 

 

Just my thoughts. 

[Ulysses]

4 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

Don't take offense to this @Morgan but pointing out people's spelling mistakes and grammar on a football forum isn't going to win you friends. Hence it's no surprise to me that you're currently fighting with 4 people in real life. 

 

Just my thoughts. 

 

 

Why?  Does being a football supporter grant you an exemption from mastering basic ****ing English?  

[Ulysses]

Which reads better?

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan and Greedy Jambo.

 

or

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan, and Greedy Jambo.

[Greedy Jambo]

2 minutes ago, Ulysses said:

Which reads better?

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan and Greedy Jambo.

 

or

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan, and Greedy Jambo.

 

They both read the same to me.

Maybe my brain is just better than yours.

[Ulysses]

9 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

 

They both read the same to me.

 

Indeed.  So what do they mean?  

 

[redjambo]

7 minutes ago, Ulysses said:

 

Indeed.  So what do they mean? 

 

Some beans.

[Ulysses]

3 minutes ago, redjambo said:

 

Some beans.

 

I'm just hoping that Greedy only gives one answer.    

[FWJ]

7 hours ago, Ulysses said:

Which reads better?

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan and Greedy Jambo.

 

or

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan, and Greedy Jambo.

It depends.

Any ambiguity in the first example could be cleared up by altering the word order in the list and it means you could lose the Oxford comma (which is inelegant IMHO)

[AlimOzturk]

On 01/12/2023 at 17:26, Morgan said:

Not something to be ignored. It's lack of presence can make a sentence very ambiguous.

 

We read a restaurant review earlier in the year, it went like this:

 

'The food was excellent and the portions were of a good size".

 

'The waitress was lovely and very cheap - a group of us shared the cost".   

 

This came into my mind, after reading a post yesterday, which informed us that a cat had regularly attended Tynecastle in the 90's and the 00's.  

 

 

 

 

That’s missing the word food not a comma. 

“The waitress was lovely and the food was very cheap. A group of us shared the cost.”

 

Would be the way I would structure the sentence. A comma wouldn’t read correctly imo. 

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by AlimOzturk

[henrysmithsgloves]

A couple of commers, for folk of a certain age

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by henrysmithsgloves

[Morgan]

11 hours ago, Greedy Jambo said:

Don't take offense to this @Morgan but pointing out people's spelling mistakes and grammar on a football forum isn't going to win you friends. Hence it's no surprise to me that you're currently fighting with 4 people in real life. 

 

Just my thoughts. 

Just for clarity, I'm only actively and metaphorically fighting with two of them.

 

The other two are from the dim and distant past, but will never be either forgiven nor forgotten.

 

Plus, one of the current ones we have severely harmed financially.

 

So, one to go!

[Morgan]

11 hours ago, Ulysses said:

Which reads better?

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan and Greedy Jambo.

 

or

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan, and Greedy Jambo.

[kila]

11 hours ago, Ulysses said:

Which reads better?

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan and Greedy Jambo.

 

or

 

I'm quite fond of my parents, Morgan, and Greedy Jambo.

 

First one could be comma-less?

 

I'm quite fond of my parents: Morgan and Greedy Jambo.

 

Or would it still need to be:

 

I'm quite fond of my parents: Morgan, and Greedy Jambo.

 

[Ulysses]

4 hours ago, FWJ said:

It depends.

Any ambiguity in the first example could be cleared up by altering the word order in the list and it means you could lose the Oxford comma (which is inelegant IMHO)

 

Does an oul' ink splodge here or there matter?  Greedy reckons both sentences are the same.

[martoon]

I vaguely remember a Jonathan Creek episode when a character committed suicide because he misread a letter. A tiny fly had landed on it, created a comma that shouldn't have been there and completely changed the context of a sentence.

 

Far fetched, perhaps, but be aware when writing an old style letter to someone. A misplaced comma or a deid fly could be disastrous. 😊

[Morgan]

Just for clarity - @Greedy Jambo and my very good self have never produced an offspring.  

 

Despite his quite basic advances, my loins have remained safely inside my drawers.

 

Even at this giving time of year, he will have to satisfy himself with his trusty Pot Noodle container.

 

It’s a big from me.

 

 

 

 

[Spellczech]

On 01/12/2023 at 17:35, henrysmithsgloves said:

This you Morgan 😆

 

Word on the street is that Morgan's computer screen is covered in 'em!

[That thing you do]

I always used to think Karma Chameleon was comma comma comma chameleon, you come and go

 

As a protest song about shite spelling.

 

 

[leginten]

Let’s hope the OP’s next thread is about where the apostrophe lives.

[Spellczech]

9 minutes ago, leginten said:

Let’s hope the OP’s next thread is about where the apostrophe lives.

in his head

[redjambo]

On 21/12/2023 at 06:45, FWJ said:

It depends.

Any ambiguity in the first example could be cleared up by altering the word order in the list and it means you could lose the Oxford comma (which is inelegant IMHO)

 

Yeah, I tend not to use Oxford commas except where adding one is useful for reducing ambiguity. I like simplicity.

 

For example, in the phrase mentioned above, I would have kept things simple and written:

 

Happy Days actor Tom Bosley dies...

 

and not

 

Happy Days actor, Tom Bosley, dies...

 

Edit: Before anyone points it out, the example is one of how I prefer simplicity, not an example of the use of the Oxford comma.

Edited December 22, 2023 by redjambo

[Morgan]

4 hours ago, Spellczech said:

Word on the street is that Morgan's computer screen is covered in 'em!

 

The word on the street is correct.  

 

3 hours ago, leginten said:

Let’s hope the OP’s next thread is about where the apostrophe lives.

 

I can do that, if you so wish?

 

2 hours ago, Spellczech said:

in his head

 

[iantjambo]

I’m not going to lie, I struggle with commas.

I might have got the one above wrong.

 

I couldn’t give a shit what others think though