Hi, Ardith Hinton!
I read your message from 26.06.2019 15:36

 AH>> When she complained to my mother, my mother answered "How would
 AH>> the doctor know if you were turning blue with that stuff on?" :-))


 AH> In my previous message I neglected to say that when I added commas
 AH> to your example & Mark's I was "going by the book".
The above is a
 AH> departure from standard procedure, but I've learned a few things
 AH> since I attended school:

 AH> 1) Although I wasn't happy when a USAian English professor
 AH> criticized me for using "too many commas"... and I may err in the
 AH> opposite direction now... I got the point. If I'd used commas as
 AH> they're generally used in British English there would be three of
 AH> them in my example, all serving different purposes. Once I became
 AH> accustomed to the idea of rationing them I began to see how a
 AH> forest of commas may hinder some readers more than it helps. By
 AH> shortening the original sentence you made it unnecessary to
 AH> prioritize them & determine which one(s) may be omitted without
 AH> sacrificing clarity. Sometimes that's the quickest & easiest
 AH> solution. OTOH I keep asking you about context, and thanks to Anton
 AH> I have more to add there... [chuckle].

Yes, it was again unnecessary pulling out the mote out of thine eye. ;=)
But I like the way the Canadians play hockey. They shoot the puck on the
opponent's side and only after that think what to do next. ;-)

 AH> 2) My mother was speaking to a person who was emotionally upset.
 AH> I've found in certain situations that regardless of what the
 AH> textbook authors advise us to do in order to make our writing more
 AH> interesting there may be times When it's highly effective to start
 AH> with a main clause & continue without pausing. In oral
 AH> conversation, not everybody takes turns politely & with some folks
 AH> it may be a bit of a challenge to get a word in edgewise. :-)

As for me, it seems to me that all my life I've never paid attention at
comma when I read text. ;)

Bye, Ardith!
Alexander Koryagin
english_tutor 2019

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