In my senior English class at Central High School in San Angelo, Texas, there were a few grammar mistakes that were considered to be mortal offenses. Include one of these in a paper, and you received an automatic F. Among these unforgivable sins was the comma splice.
When two independent clauses are connected by only a comma, they constitute a run-on sentence that is called a comma-splice. (Guide to Grammar and Writing by the Capital Community College Foundation)
So why is it that I’ve taken to using comma splices as a stylistic device? As I attempt to recapture the cadences of my preaching, I join sentences together with nothing but a comma between them, when I should really use a semi-colon. It’s a nasty habit I’ve gotten into.
But under normal circumstances, such a mistake has no real consequences beyond annoying grammar connoisseurs. I’ve discovered, however, that writing a book for publication does not fall under the category of “normal circumstances.” Editors read what you write and make corrections that make sense to them. When faced with a comma splice, they do their best to turn it into proper English. Doing so can, at times, change the meaning of a sentence.
Consider, for example, the following which I wrote for Letters From The Lamb:
“Tolerance and political correctness warp our doctrine, nationalism and patriotism distract us from our true calling.”
To my reading ear, the cadence of that “sentence” was logical: this and this cause one thing, that and that cause another. If a period or semi-colon were to intrude on the musical flow of those words, it would come after the word “doctrine.” I assumed any reader would read it the same way.
Any reader, perhaps, but a proofreader. Faced with this linguistic aberration, the copyeditor read “doctrine, nationalism and patriotism” as a series. The sentence was fixed in the following way:
“Tolerance and political correctness warp our doctrine, nationalism and patriotism—and distract us from our true calling.”
Blech! When I first read the sentence in the published book, I thought that the change had been made on ideological grounds. Then I read the original carefully and saw that it was a grammatical correction. One that greatly altered the meaning of the sentence.
Whose fault was it? Mine, of course. My English teacher would have flunked the whole book based on that sentence alone. I guess I should have paid more attention in class. As of now, I’m going to a special 12-step program for comma splicers, seeking to overcome my syntax abuse. One day at a time.
Brian told me about this. Sorry.
i still suffer from two years of high school journalism, i am a lot better about noticing errors, but things still jump out at me.
hello, my name is brian, ….
And yet we take an original manuscript, which has no breaks in it, and apply our own, and say we are sure that is what was meant to be said. Hummm go figure.
http://www.borders.com/online/store/SearchResults?type=1&contrib=Lynne+Truss
Eats, Shoots and Leaves (as opposed to Eats Shoots and Leaves): The Zero Tolerance Guide to Punctuation
I don’t have it myself (on the list) but it has gotten rave reviews!
Good luck!!
Jennifer, I bought that book for my sister. Great book.
Problem is, I know the rules, I just don’t follow them.
Kind of like me and dieting! I usually know the rules, but I hate to proof (and I’m really bad at it) so, I don’t usually see the mistakes! Oh well!!! Robert Frost was a horrible speller and he did OK!! I enjoy your posts very much.
The challenge is that when writing for a journal, book, or even a blog post, I want to write with correct English. But my sermons, even though I rarely take a manuscript (or any notes) with me to the pulpit, I do write my sermons out in script form. The reasons for that are for another post but in doing this, I want to write my sermons manuscripts out so that they read as they would be heard which means forgetting some of the grammar rules of writing. Sometimes it is difficult to swithc modes from sermon writing to journal writing and back and forth.
Grace and peace,
Rex
I guess that would be right up there with ending a sentence with a preposition. That is so common and comes across so awkward. And then there is the “I / me” thing and when to use which word. Listen to the radio talking heads or the news media people and it’s horrible. But don’t get me going on grammar …. I can ride a mean soapbox on this subject. I was raised by a grammar Nazi!
Pingback: Remembering that pesky book edit | Tim Archer's Kitchen of Half-Baked Thoughts