Thursday, April 23, 2015

In Which I Muse on Commas

Image result for comma

I attended a luncheon today and the business women at my table were questioning me about being a writer. Do I tape or write my interview notes by hand? (By hand in a composition notebook using a mechanical pencil.) Do I have all my questions written up before hand? (I will have a list of questions to start with but know that the interview could go just about anywhere so I like to leave space for surprises.) Do I favor the Oxford comma? (Of course. I am old school.)

In case you don't know, the Oxford comma is the comma placed before the and in a series of three or more terms. You can see that I use it in the title of Belle, Book, and CandleOddly enough, one publication I write for uses the Oxford comma and another doesn't. 

I admitted to the women that even after all these years I sometimes get confused on correct comma usage and therefore I keep a spray bottle of commas on my desk. When I have finished a story, I just squirt some of the cute little marks into the text in case I missed any.

This is why I was glad to pick up a new book from the library, Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris. Ms. Norris is a writer and a copy editor for The New Yorker and is known for her columns on grammar and punctuation. This is her first book and I can hardly wait to read it. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., the publisher, writes this on its website about Ms. Norris and the book:

Down-to-earth and always open-minded, she draws on examples from Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and the Lord's Prayer as well as from The Honeymooners, The Simpsons, David Foster Wallace, and Gillian Flynn.

(Notice the use of the Oxford comma.)

The reader is also promised a tour of a pencil-sharpener museum. How can you beat that? 

I will give a full report soon.

My bedtime reading is based on my recent Close Encounter with Alexander McCall Smith and I am re-investigating his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. The library has in its ebook collection all fifteen tales of Mma Ramotswe's adventures as Botswana's only female detective. It is a pleasure to once again read AMS's loving descriptions of Africa and watch how he develops the characters. I enjoy the little mysteries and their solutions. Mma Ramotswe almost always opts for the kindest way of helping her clients even when the news is bad. I am now in the middle of book three, Morality for Beautiful Girls

I do believe that Mr. McCall Smith favors the Oxford comma. Just in case you were wondering.

13 comments:

  1. I also use the Oxford comma but my spray bottle is full of parentheses. (Love them.)

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    1. Laugh out loud! I notice, Laura that in this post I used quite a few parentheses so perhaps a few sneaked into my comma bottle.

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  2. Okay, I can't blame this one on you. An old friend called me from Florida the other day. He had time to kill between a business meeting and dinner with those same people. Somehow, the conversation turned to commas and he recommended this book. So, you're off the hook, Belle! I now have it on hold at the library.

    And I favor the Oxford comma, too.

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    1. The race is on then, Joan. I have only read the introductory chapter but know this is going to be a sweet ride with Ms. Norris. We will have to compare notes.

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  3. I'm a recent convert to the Oxford comma (and I only recently learned what it was called, despite years of being an editor! For shame!), though none of the publications I've worked for have used it. I'm happy to find another grammar geek in you, Belle. I will be interested to read more about Norris' book. I recently read Janis Bell's Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences, and found it to be a most readable and helpful book on grammar and punctuation. These are our tools--I want to be able to use them well.

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    1. Oh, Kathy, I do love a lively grammar book. I will look for Ms. Bell's to read after this one. I try to reread every year or so Strunk and White's 'Elements of Style' which never fails to amuse and inform me. It delights me that this particular comma has a name. Makes it seem so friendly!

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  4. I think my spray bottle is full of 'anyway's. Er, anyway, I am an Oxford comma fan, so can totally relate to this.

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    1. We love our spray bottles! Thanks for adding to the conversation, vicki.

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  5. I was a copyeditor at a newspaper for decades so I guess I should read the book. The serial comma is okay but the uppercase approach in the New Yorker is a bit tough to stomach. The Administration this, the Administration that. Come on! ha

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    1. As a former copyeditor, you would definitely enjoy this book. I have only read a few chapters, but Ms. Norris has quite a few tales to tell of goings on at TNY. She hasn't yet touched on the Uppercase Usage yet. I am sure that will come.

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    2. Yeah I've read that it's a fun read, especially on insider stuff at the magazine. I definitely plan to read it ... thanks

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  6. Yes, the Oxford comma! I was raised on it, and am always astonished that others were not. I never knew it was called the Oxford comma. Thanks, Belle.

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    1. Kat, one must obey any rule that includes the word Oxford! Those of us of a certain age had the use of this little mark drilled into us in school. I think with computers and publishing costs, it is often ignored. Just not by me!

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