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Subject:Re: Commas (was: But for however) From:Tommy Trussell <twt -at- CEI -dot- NET> Date:Mon, 13 Nov 1995 16:26:01 -0600
>They don't mention commas signifying breaths. I have heard this before but
>I think it's one of those old 'rules' of writing that started as someone's
>pet theory and somehow became a law. I might use it as a handy rule-of-thumb
>or analogy for someone who wasn't a confident writer -- "Think of it like a
>pause for breath in the middle of a sentence".
I agree that using breaths to place commas could easily mislead someone.
Just, imagine, an, instruc-, tion card, for a, person, with, severe,
emphy-, sema.