5 ms·

You might be right, thou I don't see that sentence as being exceptionally unclear. The first remark in the OP - stating that this is about fruit flies, made me

You might be right, thou I don't see that sentence as being exceptionally unclear. The first remark in the OP - stating that this is about fruit flies, made me think they might not have heard about circadian rhythms and were genuinely surprised, as it portrays a certain view often shared by people who have studied little about biology.

RheingoldRiver 3y ago
The conjunction should be "or" not "and"; and the lack of Oxford comma really, really hurts comprehensibility. Also, including the `in the afternoon` breaks the parallel structure of each of the items in the list. A couple options to improve: 1. circadian rhythms are the 24-hour changes in our physiology that synchronize with the day-night cycle and modulate when we are hungry, sleepy, want sex, or, in the afternoon, have asthma attacks or a fever. 2. circadian rhythms are the 24-hour changes in our physiology that synchronize with the day-night cycle and modulate when we are hungry, sleepy, want sex, or suffer conditions like asthma attacks or fevers. 3. circadian rhythms are the 24-hour changes in our physiology that synchronize with the day-night cycle and modulate when we are hungry (mealtimes), sleepy (nighttime), want sex (??? i didnt know this was a thing), or suffer asthma attacks or fevers (afternoons).
- coldtea 3y ago
  >The conjunction should be "or" not "and"; and the lack of Oxford comma really, really hurts comprehensibility Only for people unable to understand a sentence in context. In general, the Oxford comma, or it's lack thereof, rarely, if ever, is a problem - except for grammar geeks (and even those have debated its significance since forever).
  - housecarpenter 3y ago
    I found it difficult to understand.
  - ralferoo 3y ago
    There is, of course, this counter example from 2018 where many people misinterpreted the headline at first reading: https://desk.thecontentcloud.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Oxford-Comma-570x570.jpg https://desk.thecontentcloud.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/...
    - coldtea 3y ago
      LOL, did they?
      - RheingoldRiver 3y ago
        There's also this: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/oxford-comma-maine.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/oxford-comma-maine.htm...

RheingoldRiver 3y ago

The conjunction should be "or" not "and"; and the lack of Oxford comma really, really hurts comprehensibility. Also, including the `in the afternoon` breaks the parallel structure of each of the items in the list. A couple options to improve: 1. circadian rhythms are the 24-hour changes in our physiology that synchronize with the day-night cycle and modulate when we are hungry, sleepy, want sex, or, in the afternoon, have asthma attacks or a fever. 2. circadian rhythms are the 24-hour changes in our physiology that synchronize with the day-night cycle and modulate when we are hungry, sleepy, want sex, or suffer conditions like asthma attacks or fevers. 3. circadian rhythms are the 24-hour changes in our physiology that synchronize with the day-night cycle and modulate when we are hungry (mealtimes), sleepy (nighttime), want sex (??? i didnt know this was a thing), or suffer asthma attacks or fevers (afternoons).

coldtea 3y ago
>The conjunction should be "or" not "and"; and the lack of Oxford comma really, really hurts comprehensibility Only for people unable to understand a sentence in context. In general, the Oxford comma, or it's lack thereof, rarely, if ever, is a problem - except for grammar geeks (and even those have debated its significance since forever).
- housecarpenter 3y ago
  I found it difficult to understand.
- ralferoo 3y ago
  There is, of course, this counter example from 2018 where many people misinterpreted the headline at first reading: https://desk.thecontentcloud.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Oxford-Comma-570x570.jpg https://desk.thecontentcloud.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/...
  - coldtea 3y ago
    LOL, did they?
    - RheingoldRiver 3y ago
      There's also this: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/oxford-comma-maine.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/us/oxford-comma-maine.htm...