The parasitic wasp T. elegans, the roundworm C. elegans, the feather-tailed dinosaur J. elegans, John Singer Sargent's "Madame X," Crick's "Codes Without Commas" — what unites them?
Holding us by the shoulders, she made eye contact and gushed, without substantial commas: "What I'm looking forward to truly is presenting Fred Ebb and John Kander with this marvelous award tonight.
The parasitic wasp T. elegans, the roundworm C. elegans, the feather-tailed dinosaur J. elegans, John Singer Sargent's "Madame X," Crick's "Codes Without Commas"—what unites them?
Some people call this the Harvard comma, or the serial comma, but what nobody seems to do is be indifferent to its use.
From the first time we step into an English class, we're told that the rules matter, that they must be followed, that we must know when it's appropriate to use a comma and what it means to employ the subjunctive mood.
By Ryan Bloom May 28 , 2012From the first time we step into an English class, we're told that the rules matter, that they must be followed, that we must know when it's appropriate to use a comma and what it means to employ the subjunctive mood.
Peculiar because every last dot and comma of what is to come is the truth".
Let's be honest, most Tweets and text messages we send are littered with grammatical mistakes; whether it's a misspelling, a forgotten comma, or what have you.
Rich Yeselson, a contributing editor at the left-wing journal Dissent, told me, "The sort of detached, post-Jon Stewart generation — they're the ones putting inverted commas around what Bernie stands for.
