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Posted: November 19th, 2007, 23:06
by HereComesPete
:ignore: Lies :ignore:

Posted: November 19th, 2007, 23:13
by eion
Dr. kitteny berk wrote:
That's fine actually.
:above: In my opinion it's actually better with the comma, based on what the sentence sounds like when read aloud.

I'm lobbying hard for an improvement in connection speed... during the day it's so bad that a modem would be better.

Posted: November 19th, 2007, 23:21
by Dr. kitteny berk
eion wrote: :above: In my opinion it's actually better with the comma, based on what the sentence sounds like when read aloud.
:above: I concur, it looks a bit crappy, but reads/sounds much better.

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 9:57
by spoodie
:bored:

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 9:58
by eion
spoodie wrote::bored:
Pffft.

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 10:42
by bomberesque
I was taught not to use the serial comma (as I now realise it is called, thank you resident 5punky grammar nazis) at school, but the wikipedia atricle on the matter is most enlightening.

fave quote
The Times once published this description of a Peter Ustinov documentary: "highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector."[
although they point out that the addition of the serial comma here may still suggest that Nelson Mandela is a demigod even while it does clear up the question of his "tribal art" collection. The dirty sod :P

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 11:19
by FatherJack
I was always taught not to use it, but that it was acceptable when trying to make speech more understandable, indeed I was encouraged to be free and easy with punctuation when used creatively.

I was told you should restructure your sentences when writing to avoid ambiguity, thus Ustinov's highlights would have included meeting not only Nelson Mandela, but an 800-year-old demigod and a collector of dildos.

However since forums post are analagous to speaking, and we're trying to get across what we're saying with text, any visual clues that help follow the cadence are helpful. Commas are sort of like breaths, or empahasis-changes in this regard.

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 11:27
by Dog Pants
How many more tangents can we get in this thread?

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 11:31
by FatherJack
I also signed up for the magazine.

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 12:45
by bomberesque
I signed up for it too. Even though you don't get a country box to fill in I just put Belgium in the county box. See if it turns up...

what are the chances that the publishers really think WTF means what's the future? I'd love to see this go mainstream, for the name alone

Posted: November 20th, 2007, 13:01
by FatherJack
bomberesque wrote:what are the chances that the publishers really think WTF means what's the future? I'd love to see this go mainstream, for the name alone
Indeed 100% of the reason I got it is for people's reactions when I leave it lying around at work.