paradoxically

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PromisingBlue

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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.:)
 

Barb_D

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You would THINK that a punctuation mark used as often as the comma (especially when you consider how powerful it is) would be used correctly and with agreement, but you'd be wrong.

That's the (alleged) paradox — usually we get better at using things we use a lot, or usually we're careful about using things that have a lot of power, but that's not so with the comma.


I enjoy cooking, my friends, and my cats. -- I have a hobby.
I enjoy cooking my friends and my cats. -- I'm a cannibal!
 

jutfrank

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This use of the word "paradoxically" to mean 'against expectations' is simply not appropriate, in my judgement. There are no paradoxes mentioned.
 

PromisingBlue

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Hi, Barb_D Hi, jutfrank. Thanks for your attention to my first question in this forum.:-D
Honestly, I can’t decide whether it means ‘against expectations’ or not, (a) because the expectation seems a little ambiguous to nail down (including two ideas of mine), and (b) because I can’t see why he uses paradoxically if it has no effective meaning.

Is there any possibility he says paradoxically when he means something else?
Is there any confusing word for paradoxically, like alternately and alternatively?
 

Barb_D

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No, there is zero possibility that he meant "alternatively."

I can't say for certain what his expectations regarding the frequency of correct use (and agreement about the correct use) of the comma are, but he feels our actual use and our actual disagreement is a paradox to those expectations.

It's not important enough for you to labor over.

Just understand what the passage means.
Commas are used a lot.
They can change meanings so they hold a lot of power.
Even so, we don't use them correctly a lot of the time.
Even so, we don't always agree what "correctly" means.
 
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jutfrank

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I agree with Barb_D above.

I can't really follow his thought clearly, either. It seems that he's saying that because the comma is so common, one would not expect it to be particularly open to interpretation. I would say if anything it would be the other way round - that is, more open to interpretation.

So there are two things wrong with this paragraph. First, the thought is neither well-expressed nor well-justified. Second, the word I gather he really means to say is something like 'counterintuitively', or 'unexpectedly', and certainly not 'paradoxically'.
 

PromisingBlue

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Okay, I’m going to take it as both of you say.:)
Barb_D, thanks for your simple explanation. :up:You’ve been a big help. (I’m sorry my English is poor. I meant to say ‘Is paradoxically often confused with some word just like alternately is commonly confused with alternatively?’ )
Thanks, jutfrank. You put things so neatly in such clear order. :up:
 
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