[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
[Author Index (this month)][Thread Index (this month)][Top of Archive]

Re: And Or situations

Subject: Re: And Or situations
From: Lauren <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
To: TECHWR-L Writing <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2013 13:38:52 -0700

On 10/22/2013 12:34 PM, Robert Lauriston wrote:

Huh? The serial comma is good style everywhere.

I agree but is a regular point of controversy and an entertaining source of irony for me.

"Among those interviewed were [Merle Haggard's] two ex-wives, Kris
Kristofferson and Robert Duvall."

The Reuters General Style Guide prefers no serial comma. Their online handbook (http://handbook.reuters.com/) is giving 504 errors but states, "Use commas to separate items in a list, e.g. cheese, fruit, wine and coffee or Smith despised ballet, hated the theatre and was bored by opera. Note that there is normally no comma before the final and. However, a comma should be used in this position if to leave it out would risk ambiguity, e.g. He admired Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, and Leonard Bernstein."

That's nice and inconsistent.

Ironies being what they are, Thompson-Reuters owns FindLaw, an online repository of case law and other legal documents. FindLaw provides helpful guides for preparing legal documents. On the comma, one document states, "DO consider the placement of punctuation marks, since even a misplaced comma can change the meaning of a sentence." http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/business-contracts-forms/do-s-and-don-ts-contracts-terms-article.html

I think that when a rule of writing is clear in one context but can produce vagueness in another context, then the rule is vague and should not be used. The use of two rules, like what Reuters suggests for commas, is inconsistent and not a "rule."

Both the serial comma and the "and/or" conundrum give rise to inconsistent rules of writing that placate writers who are unable to write clearly without using crutches like confusing slashes and random commas.

In what looks like nuisance writing, the Reuters style guide uses "and/or" nine times and makes no mention of an "and/or" rule.





^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives

Follow-Ups:

References:
And Or situations: From: Cardimon, Craig
Re: And Or situations: From: Gene Kim-Eng
Re: And Or situations: From: Milan Davidović
Re: And Or situations: From: Robert Lauriston
Re: And Or situations: From: Lauren
Re: And Or situations: From: Robert Lauriston

Previous by Author: Re: And Or situations
Next by Author: Re: And Or situations
Previous by Thread: Re: And Or situations
Next by Thread: Re: And Or situations

[Top of Archive] | [Author Index (this month)] | [Thread Index (this month)]

What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:

Sponsored Ads