Monday, January 15, 2007
following the rules
Ok I admit it. I can't remember all the rules of grammar off the top of my head. I have so many hats here at CS Press. Its frustrating, forinstance, to have to refer to the Chicago Manual of Style for comma usage. I've been an editor for years now. Worked more copy on the web and on page than I could possibly remember. But I still can't keep all the conjunctions and clauses and diacritics in mind. More than that I'm stubborn about it. I feel like an egghead for needing to know. Don't tell anyone please.
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1 comments:
Language is logical (logos), so the rules regarding usage are logical. There's no need to memorize them, or to keep referring to manuals, just as there's no need to keep looking up your gender, or your route to the grocery store.
Commas, like all punctuation marks, perform a specific function. If you spend a bit of time contemplating the structure of sentences (and therefore of thought itself), you won't need to recheck the rules for comma placement. You'll know where the commas belong because it will be obvious to you.
Good luck!
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