Take a Deep Breath, Sayeth the Comma
If apostrophes are the extroverts of the punctuation world, commas are the introverts.
Hi y’all, and welcome to Comma Drama.
In our last series, we talked about apostrophes and their usage.
Commas resemble apostrophes, but down low instead of up high. They serve an opposite function in writing, however.
In 1921, the psychiatrist Carl Jung posited his theory of extroversion and introversion in Psychological Types. It’s hard to paraphrase an entire book, and I was not a psych major, but roughly: Extroverts direct their energy outward, while introverts focus theirs inward.
Apostrophes are extroverts. They bridge gaps in words and imply possession. They want to belong.
Commas are introverts. They provide a place for us to pause, look around, and recharge while we read and write.
To turn to a less likely source of wisdom on this point, apostrophes are uniters, and commas are dividers.
The division provided by a comma, however, is less disruptive than the division provided, by, say, invading a foreign country under false premises to avenge your father’s name.
It is also less harsh than a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. Those punctuation marks end sentences.
A comma provides a place to pause. We all know the feeling of reading a super long sentence aloud or singing a long phrase and running out of breath. A comma is a respite.
Of course, you have to know where to place that respite. Otherwise, your sentence is going to sound choppy or wheezy. I’m going to go into more detail on the truly divisive Oxford comma in a separate post. That deals with three or more things in a list. But know that if you have a list of two or more things, you are going to need AT LEAST ONE comma.
Let’s say that a winter storm is moving in on your town. If you live in the South (or just grew up there, like me) you know that this is your cue to head to the grocery store before the bread, dairy, and personal care aisles are completely wiped out. I’m not here to explain this phenomenon, I’m only here to explain that your grocery list needs commas.
Incorrect: A storm is coming! BREAD MILK TOILET PAPER NOW.
Take a deep breath! Unless the snow is already sticking, you have time.
Correct: A storm is coming! We need bread, milk, and toilet paper. Let’s go now!
Also correct (don’t @ me Oxford lovers, your day is nigh): A storm is coming! We need bread, milk and toilet paper. Let’s go now!
Don’t you feel calmer just reading that?
Other comma functions we’ll be discussing this month: Commas that break up clauses, commas that set off appositives, addresses, and introductory phrases, and how to use commas with quotation marks and parentheses. I can’t wait.
less likely source of wisdom on this [or any other] point,
“To turn to a less likely source of wisdom on this point” made me LOL for real. Great read!