2 ms·

> super-comma This is the first time I've ever heard the character ";" referred to as such. It's always been "semi-colon" to me, is this a region/culture diffe

• basch 7mo ago
  same character, used differently? i call it a super comma when its separating a list with commas within the sets. so if i am listing colors like green, blue, red; foods like apple, orange, strawberry; and seasons like winter, summer, fall. it's one use case for an em-dash, because whatever you have inside it has commas in the phrase. square and rectangle situation. a supercomma is a subset of semicolon.
• chasd00 7mo ago
  no it's always been semicolon, the "super-comma" comes from describing how to use it. "It's similar to a comma but like a super comma."
  • jjgreen 7mo ago
    Huh? I've always understood that the clause after the semicolon is peripheral; the meaning of the whole sentence does not change without it.
    • basch 7mo ago
      thats one use for it. supercomma is another.
• xdennis 7mo ago
  > super-comma I would have assumed it's a synonym for apostrophe. super-comma <-> upper-comma, with super meaning upper, like in superscript.
  • basch 7mo ago
    I think of it as supersedes the comma in the order of operations. You work inward, or outward (depending which way you read the list.)