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> Well, we all know that comma splices are bad, right? Perhaps not. Or
> perhaps it is not clear what counts as a comma splice. I note what I regard
> as s disturbing trend in regarding constructions with comma splices as
> grammatically
> acceptable. I wonder how far this has gone, and what your feelings are about
> this. Consider ...
<snip>
I believe that likewise,
> First select "Edit", and then "Cut".
> is okay.
<snip>
Why even put a comma in the example above? You have two objects sharing one
verb.
When I get confused about commas, I reduce the sentence to its basic elements
before I analyse it. I remove any adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional
phrases, for example:
Select Edit and Cut.
Clearly, no commas are needed here. Why would commas belong in the example
above?
