Comma splices -Reply

[Bill Sullivan <bsullivan -at- SMTPLINK -dot- DELTECPOWER -dot- COM>]

See Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, Section I, especially
rule 6.

Bill Sullivan
bsullivan -at- deltecpower -dot- com

>>> Gary Merrill <merrill -at- HYPERION -dot- PDIAL -dot- INTERPATH -dot- NET> - 1/5/96 5:46
PM >>>
   Well, we all know that comma splices are bad, right?    Perhaps
not.  Or perhaps it is not clear what counts as a comma splice.  I
note what I regard as s disturbing trend in regarding constructions
with comma splices as
 grammatically acceptable.  I wonder how far this has gone, and what
your feelings are about this.  Consider ...

   The sentence

                First select "Edit", and then select "Cut".

is perfectly okay.  I believe that likewise,

                First select "Edit", and then "Cut".

is okay.  But what about

                First select "Edit", then select "Cut".

?  To me, this screams "BAD GRAMMAR" and would have merited summary
execution from my 7th grade English teacher.  Yet I see this kind of
thing more and more often (written by technical writers and passed by
their editors).  I
 feel that it is both ungrammatical (and am prepared to argue this
with some
 precision) and detracts from readibility.

   Stylistically, comma splices are tolerated in certain unusual and
constrained circumstances.  A common example is:

                I came, I saw, I conquered.

(Which, of course, I would *prefer* to render as

                I came;  I saw;  I conquered.

or

                I came.  I saw.  I conquered.

but never mind that preference.)  However, such cases seem to be
severely restricted; and the guidelines for indulging in them
typically warn that such
 should be done sparingly.

   So, as trained and experienced writers, I wonder what both your
experience and inclinations are towards this sort of thing.  More
specifically, I am not so
 much interested in mere *opinion*, but rather in how one is to make
a principled
 decision in such matters.  I will not at this point divulge the
results of my research in
 this area, but will open the floor for discussion and argument.
Have at it.

   Oh -- a word of warnig:  beware the conjunctive adverb.

   (When we're done with this, perhaps we can move on to  "Next week,
she will deliver the draft to you and I." (which I recently saw used
by a technical writer and manager with over 20 years' experience).)

----------
Gary Merrill
   DOD #1668

        '95 GPz 1100