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hedwards: As an English teacher I can't help but notice that he's asserting that dangling participles is a word crime. Erm, no, that has never been a rule in English.
What are your views on the Oxford comma?
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hedwards: As an English teacher I can't help but notice that he's asserting that dangling participles is a word crime. Erm, no, that has never been a rule in English.
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chadjenofsky: What are your views on the Oxford comma?
I never even saw one until I reached college. There are a few cases where you need it in order to avoid ambiguity, but in general it's optional. You just need to have consistency.

If you're writing professionally though; that's going to be different. Each publication will have a style guide that will tell you about things like that.

The Youtube page had some good examples such as: I invited the strippers, Adolf and Stalin. That's ambiguous and you may want to add an Oxford comma for clarity. It could be either the names of the strippers or two additional invitations. But, if you say "I invited the strippers, Adolf and Stalin to the party," that's no longer ambiguous, you've invited at least 4 people to the party.

For the most part, the rules change over time and really the aim is clarity and reliability.

Personally, I'm usually too lazy to bother grammar checking forum posts as forum posts are informal register.
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hedwards: As an English teacher I can't help but notice that he's asserting that dangling participles is a word crime. Erm, no, that has never been a rule in English.
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Fever_Discordia: Oim just a humble IT Tech but I googled 'dangling participles' and the definition on Dictionary.com say that it's a word
"that appears from its position to modify an element of the sentence other than the one it was intended to modify, as 'plunging' in Plunging hundreds of feet into the gorge, we saw Yosemite Falls"

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dangling+participle

Like an 'Eats Shoots and Leaves' thing only it doesn't necessarily matter if you add a comma or not...
A dangling participle is something that's going to depend more on context than if the sentence was constructed with more care. In practice, these things are much more problematic in isolation. If you've got sentences with dangled participles in the middle of a conversation you'll use the context to guess the correct one or you'll ask. In most cases though you'll know which one it is.

In a more formal register, you might not want to dangle the participles, but that's a register thing rather than a grammar thing, it wouldn't be any less grammatical to use the contraction can't in a formal paper, but it's frowned on.
Post edited October 04, 2015 by hedwards
I'm a member of a FB group called "Let's eat grandma! or Let's eat, grandma! Punctiation saves lives!" or somesuch. Also, there are many many examples, here is one, of the oxford comma usage:
Attachments:
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drealmer7: I'm a member of a FB group called "Let's eat grandma! or Let's eat, grandma! Punctiation saves lives!" or somesuch. Also, there are many many examples, here is one, of the oxford comma usage:
That's basically the only case where you need to use the Oxford comma. And only because the sentence ended after Stalin. In most, if not all, other cases you wouldn't need the additional comma. That being said, in most cases if you're allowed to use the with the word strippers, the ambiguity isn't there. You'll know whether or not male strippers are a reasonable possibility.

In fact, it's more environmentally friendly to not waste ink on a superfluous comma.
pffft gramer iz fer foolz and idiuts who needz it anyway leik dis post if u agree cuz if u dont your just a fukin nurd!!!!!!!!
Hi. I'm 'Beer, and I overuse the comma.
I will be writing down everyone's pet peeves and making sure to use them regularly. Thanks! :)

That video was awesome and I love weird al.
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hedwards: As an English teacher I can't help but notice that he's asserting that dangling participles is a word crime. Erm, no, that has never been a rule in English.
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chadjenofsky: What are your views on the Oxford comma?
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
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chadjenofsky: What are your views on the Oxford comma?
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DieRuhe: Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
what? you don't? *eyes suspiciously*
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DieRuhe: Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
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Crewdroog: what? you don't? *eyes suspiciously*
Personally I love them, but that was a Vampire Weekend reference.
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Crewdroog: what? you don't? *eyes suspiciously*
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DieRuhe: Personally I love them, but that was a Vampire Weekend reference.
ah. i will see myself out then....

:)

edit: and I do not like the oxford comma unless you really need it. 'and' is the comma!!!!
Post edited October 04, 2015 by Crewdroog
I remember when I could use a ' or ` multiple times a day but these days all I seem to get is ,
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qwixter: I remember when I could use a ' or ` multiple times a day but these days all I seem to get is ,
Using ` makes baby Jesus cry.
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Doc0075: Monkeys scare me...
It is the humans that scare me.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DlwZNxBO5ks/UjGUaSDgF-I/AAAAAAAAAg4/M4DZsb8OAk8/s1600/photo+%284%29.JPG

http://animalwelfareinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/1410438678866388.png
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Gnostic: It is the humans that scare me.
me too