PromisingBlue
Member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2016
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Japanese
- Home Country
- Japan
- Current Location
- Japan
Hi, all.
What are the paradoxical things in the following paragraph?
The comma is the speed bump of the punctuation world. With its power to pause, the comma controls the ebb and flow of a sentence, its rhythm, its speed. Based on frequency alone the comma wields tremendous influence, outnumbering the period by at least three to one, and outnumbering other punctuation marks by at least five to one. And yet, paradoxically, it is also the mark most open to interpretation. The comma has few hard rules, and as a result is the mark most often misused.
-- Noah Lukeman, A Dash of Style
Here’s my ideas.
1 The comma doesn’t seem to accept no interpretation other than the speed bump of the punctuation world, but it opens to interpretation.
2. The comma wields tremendous influence and such a big mark seems to have hard rules, but actually it has few hard rules.
I’d be glad if you could explain it.
Thank you.
What are the paradoxical things in the following paragraph?
The comma is the speed bump of the punctuation world. With its power to pause, the comma controls the ebb and flow of a sentence, its rhythm, its speed. Based on frequency alone the comma wields tremendous influence, outnumbering the period by at least three to one, and outnumbering other punctuation marks by at least five to one. And yet, paradoxically, it is also the mark most open to interpretation. The comma has few hard rules, and as a result is the mark most often misused.
-- Noah Lukeman, A Dash of Style
Here’s my ideas.
1 The comma doesn’t seem to accept no interpretation other than the speed bump of the punctuation world, but it opens to interpretation.
2. The comma wields tremendous influence and such a big mark seems to have hard rules, but actually it has few hard rules.
I’d be glad if you could explain it.
Thank you.