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Dick wrote:
The cardinal rule remains that _within a given body of work_ you pick a
rule and stick with it. If you pick a different rule for the next
edition, that's fine. As long as you are internally consistent, you will
not confuse your readers. There is no _logical_ reason to choose one
convention over the other in this case. Take the rule that says you need
a comma after an introductory phrase, but you can omit it if the phrase
is shorter than six words. Any logic there? None. Just a convention. And
a similar one can be applied to direct address when the sentence
consists of a brief interjection, an addressee, and terminal
punctuation. Hello World! Hello Bonnie! Goodbye Bonnie! Goodbye techwhirled!
---------------------------------
Actually, I think there is a lot of logic there. If it's just two words, then
there can be no confusion, and therefore no punctuation is needed.
"In the morning I have coffee."
"In the morning under the banyan tree with my cat Mergatroid sitting on my
lap, I have coffee."
(Admittedly, they're awful sentences.)
But the omission of the comma to me is logical.
Hey, how about those adjectives you forgot to hyphenate, Dick? : )
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Bonnie Granat
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