4 ms·

Yes they were. IIRC at least one of the major manuals of style endorsed them at least in some situations.

by frank2 6y ago

maxfan8 6y ago
That’s interesting. Maybe it’s considered hyper correct? Which style manual are you referring to?
- frank2 6y ago
  Don't remember. This was 30 or 35 years ago. There was a long tradition in English and maybe also in other European languages of choosing punctuation depending on how long a pause a speaker would take at the point, with a comma denoting a shorter pause than a semicolon, which in turn denoted a shorter pause than a colon, which in turn denoted a shorter pause than a period -- instead of using punctuation to convey some semantic distinction as most writers do today. The comma splice might be a vestige of that tradition.
  - gnramires 6y ago
    But the pauses are semantic in a way. Those concepts cannot be well separated. Not a linguist, but I can tell pauses are used by speakers and listeners for a variety of reasons, linked with both semantics and delivery -- to separate parts, to give and demarcate "processing time" for speakers and listeners, to create and satisfy expectation, etc. The cadence of speech is semantic (though its semantics are not of a simple propositional logic type).
cperrine 6y ago
I've been curious about this sort of thing, but I haven't been able to find good info on it. For example, it seems to me that the format of "It's not x, it's y" is widely accepted. I'm not sure if that's by simple common use or by way of some nuance that I'm not aware of. Certainly in some cases it can be difficult to avoid both comma splices and sounding stilted. I'd love to know more -- I don't seem to recall anything about it from when I had a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style.
- ianamartin 6y ago
  No one accepts "It's not x, it's y" as correct. Well, maybe some illiterate Philistines do. But no one really thinks that's correct. You have to put a semicolon in place of the comma or it is just plain wrong.

Yes they were. IIRC at least one of the major manuals of style endorsed them at least in some situations.

by frank2 6y ago

Yes they were. IIRC at least one of the major manuals of style endorsed them at least in some situations.

maxfan8 6y ago

That’s interesting. Maybe it’s considered hyper correct? Which style manual are you referring to?

frank2 6y ago
Don't remember. This was 30 or 35 years ago. There was a long tradition in English and maybe also in other European languages of choosing punctuation depending on how long a pause a speaker would take at the point, with a comma denoting a shorter pause than a semicolon, which in turn denoted a shorter pause than a colon, which in turn denoted a shorter pause than a period -- instead of using punctuation to convey some semantic distinction as most writers do today. The comma splice might be a vestige of that tradition.
- gnramires 6y ago
  But the pauses are semantic in a way. Those concepts cannot be well separated. Not a linguist, but I can tell pauses are used by speakers and listeners for a variety of reasons, linked with both semantics and delivery -- to separate parts, to give and demarcate "processing time" for speakers and listeners, to create and satisfy expectation, etc. The cadence of speech is semantic (though its semantics are not of a simple propositional logic type).

cperrine 6y ago

I've been curious about this sort of thing, but I haven't been able to find good info on it. For example, it seems to me that the format of "It's not x, it's y" is widely accepted. I'm not sure if that's by simple common use or by way of some nuance that I'm not aware of. Certainly in some cases it can be difficult to avoid both comma splices and sounding stilted. I'd love to know more -- I don't seem to recall anything about it from when I had a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style.

ianamartin 6y ago
No one accepts "It's not x, it's y" as correct. Well, maybe some illiterate Philistines do. But no one really thinks that's correct. You have to put a semicolon in place of the comma or it is just plain wrong.