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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Open Thread: Punctuation, People!

Open Thread: Punctuation, People!

by Anne Laurie|  December 10, 20138:23 pm| 53 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, #notintendedtobeafactualstatement

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THIS IS WHY THE OXFORD COMMA EXISTS RT @rafsanchez The Obama-Castro relationship is moving pretty quickly pic.twitter.com/PFq0slPqGj

— Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) December 10, 2013


.

Apart from Global Facepalm, what’s on the agenda this evening?

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Previous Post: « Flabbergasted
Next Post: Stockman Running (Off at the Mouth) in Texas… »

Reader Interactions

53Comments

  1. 1.

    opiejeanne

    December 10, 2013 at 8:26 pm

    Any idea where they’re registered?

  2. 2.

    Punchy

    December 10, 2013 at 8:27 pm

    I see the Ryan-Murray budget deal–whatever it actually entails–is already being assailed by the Hard Right because….well, nobody knows. Probably because its bipartisan and wingtards cant be accepting that. I beginning to think that ANYTHING that has Dem fingerprints on it is by definition DOA in the House.

  3. 3.

    debit

    December 10, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    Julian is going to be monster. He’s only seven months old and already this big. I wonder how big Steve is.

  4. 4.

    TaMara (BHF)

    December 10, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    @debit: Jeez, does he eat freshly killed carcasses? That is one big boy.

  5. 5.

    Botsplainer

    December 10, 2013 at 8:30 pm

    THANK YOU, Anne. For years, I’ve used that comma properly, and it bugs me when it is not used.

  6. 6.

    Mnemosyne

    December 10, 2013 at 8:33 pm

    There is a plaque I keep meaning to buy for myself (also comes in t-shirt form):

    Let’s eat Grandma
    Let’s eat, Grandma
    Commas save lives

  7. 7.

    debit

    December 10, 2013 at 8:34 pm

    @TaMara (BHF): A can of kitten food in the morning, then some dry kitten food at night. And yet somehow at his last checkup he’d managed to gain three pounds in a month.

  8. 8.

    Mnemosyne

    December 10, 2013 at 8:39 pm

    @debit:

    Our Annie looks exactly like that, but she’s barely 8 pounds. We call her our miniature Maine Coon.

  9. 9.

    Poopyman

    December 10, 2013 at 8:40 pm

    @opiejeanne:

    Any idea where they’re registered?

    Crate and Innertube

  10. 10.

    Aji

    December 10, 2013 at 8:42 pm

    @TaMara (BHF): Hey, how’s the diabetic kitteh?

  11. 11.

    Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937

    December 10, 2013 at 8:45 pm

    of course the classic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_&_Leaves

  12. 12.

    LT

    December 10, 2013 at 8:51 pm

    I never knew it was called an Oxford comma – but I’ve always been all for it!

  13. 13.

    debit

    December 10, 2013 at 8:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne: She sounds adorable. I must say, like Cole I’ve become a convert to this breed. They are so personable and charming.

  14. 14.

    ruemara

    December 10, 2013 at 9:03 pm

    Reading this http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/#/?chapt=1 Fuck Bloomberg. I never could stand the man, but fuck that pretentious, bigoted sack of crap. And packing up cookies for mailing out. Fucking hell, fuck Bloomberg.

  15. 15.

    jl

    December 10, 2013 at 9:04 pm

    @debit: I agree, adorable cat. Big cat. Any ocelot get mixed up in there?

    Re Obama/Castro nuptials, well OK then, I understand why all the pundits were all a-flivver over those two handshaking lovebirds this morning. I forgive the pundits and sorry I complained. Also explains a pissed off Michelle. I’m not particularly interested in what people do with their personal lives, but see why all the talk now.

    edit: And if I understand the post title, then I gather punctuation people punctuate “punctuation, people” Not sure what that has to do with the two happy grooms, though.

  16. 16.

    dmsilev

    December 10, 2013 at 9:07 pm

    @Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937: My favorite is “I’d like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God”.

  17. 17.

    Violet

    December 10, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    Been on the road since 7:15 a.m. in the UK. Of course my bag didn’t make it. Flight it’s supposed to be on keeps getting delayed in Newark. I’m exhausted. Think I’m going to go home and figure out the bag in the morning. Oh and I’m sick with a cold I picked up on the trip.

  18. 18.

    TriassicSands

    December 10, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I turn my back and you steal my cat??? That’s not nice.

    I have a cat I call Annie, who is also an 8 pounder, and very likely part Maine Coon. Despite their fame for gigantism, apparently there are female Maine Coons who weigh as little as seven pounds. My Annie had a very difficult first couple of years of life, and I’ve always assumed that could have had something to do with her diminutive size.
    She appeared at my door on September 11, 2003 emaciated and quite sick. After appropriate medical treatment she regained her health and as winter set in she began to inflate like a fur balloon.

  19. 19.

    Ahh says fywp

    December 10, 2013 at 9:18 pm

    @ruemara: Is this about him fucking school bus drivers by removing driver rosters, and pay, because fuck having safe drivers for kids, just hire dump truck drivers with points for $9/ hr, it’s all Class B, right?

    Or a different outrage?

  20. 20.

    SP

    December 10, 2013 at 9:30 pm

    @1937- The version of that I heard involved a dinner date with a panda, who left right after he finished having sex.

  21. 21.

    KG

    December 10, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    On the Oxford comma, and recycling a line I’ve used on the Facebook: that’s one way to deal with reproachment. On the handshake heard round the world, I’m half Cuban and would love to see the embargo end because I think it’s an outdated policy that has long outlived any usefulness it may have had.

    On the alleged budget deal: I almost wonder if this is a move by the GOP establishment to put the tea partiers in the corner

  22. 22.

    Comrade Dread

    December 10, 2013 at 9:36 pm

    I’m so glad I’m working at a place where my entire 8 hours are filled so I don’t have time to indulge my masochistic side and read right-wing blogs anymore so I missed today’s freak out.

  23. 23.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    December 10, 2013 at 9:39 pm

    This is just a rebound relationship for both of them after the death of true love Hugo Chavez.

  24. 24.

    ? Martin

    December 10, 2013 at 9:44 pm

    @KG:

    I almost wonder if this is a move by the GOP establishment to put the tea partiers in the corner

    Heh. You can’t put terrorists in a corner.

  25. 25.

    Libby's person

    December 10, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    I’d be more amused by this open thread topic if I hadn’t just started grading a bunch of term papers. I’m really hoping the one I just looked at is the worst of the lot – it’s depressingly badly written. I have a sinking feeling that I’m going to be depressed by several of the papers.

  26. 26.

    Baud

    December 10, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    @Comrade Dread:

    There’ll be another one tomorrow.

  27. 27.

    debit

    December 10, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    @Libby’s person: Be kind in your comments. I still remember the note I got at the top of a paper I had to rewrite after losing my final draft in a drive failure at 2 in the morning the day it was due. “A noble, but futile effort.” It still stings.

  28. 28.

    TriassicSands

    December 10, 2013 at 9:49 pm

    @KG:

    On the handshake heard round the world, I’m half Cuban and would love to see the embargo end because I think it’s an outdated policy that has long outlived any usefulness it may have had.

    Yes, but if we just keep the embargo in place a little longer, Cuba will capitulate and become a capitalist utopia.

    Just a little longer. We’re almost there. Almost. It won’t be long now….

  29. 29.

    TheMightyTrowel

    December 10, 2013 at 9:50 pm

    @ruemara: I wish I believed in hell so that I could make myself feel better by imagining people like him there.

  30. 30.

    srv

    December 10, 2013 at 9:51 pm

    Well at least Obummer didn’t take a selfie with Raul like he did all the other leaders.

  31. 31.

    ruemara

    December 10, 2013 at 9:56 pm

    @Ahh says fywp: 1. No. This is his homelessness policies and it’s impact. 2. RTA.

  32. 32.

    Valdivia

    December 10, 2013 at 10:04 pm

    @Violet:

    feel better and get some rest! :)

  33. 33.

    gogol's wife

    December 10, 2013 at 10:05 pm

    This is hilarious.

  34. 34.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    December 10, 2013 at 10:07 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    Just a little longer. We’re almost there. Almost. It won’t be long now….

    The next six refusals to shake hands will be crucial.

  35. 35.

    Mike E

    December 10, 2013 at 10:09 pm

    Good on Rachel Maddow for marking the anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy by reporting on the town’s attempt at healing, and the families’ efforts to remember the victims through their own foundations and initiatives. The Wheeler family saga was poignant in their honest recounting of what they went through dealing with the death of their youngest son.

    It was also noted that CBS News really showed their asses by joining Fox News in being the only major outlets to air the 9-1-1 tapes from 12-14-12; all others declined. Transcripts were provided and reprinted, however.

  36. 36.

    Yatsuno

    December 10, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    @Bill E Pilgrim: How Friedman of you.

    Friedman is in my phone dictionary. I didn’t put it there. The Koreans are fucking with me now.

  37. 37.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 10, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    some pics from the holiday recital today.

  38. 38.

    ruemara

    December 10, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Nobody complain about my cookies pictures because your pictures are way sweeter than that. Complete pwnage of adorable. You proud parent.

  39. 39.

    p.a.

    December 10, 2013 at 10:27 pm

    @Punchy: the budget takes another swipe at federal workers. Nice work Murray.

  40. 40.

    ranchandsyrup

    December 10, 2013 at 10:30 pm

    @ruemara: I feel like This guy sometimes. Thanks.

  41. 41.

    PhoenixRising

    December 10, 2013 at 10:30 pm

    Oxford comma: working hard to aid the reader’s comprehension, like a good punctuation mark should!

    We have frequent arguments about punctuation around Chez Phoenix; the teen home-schooler is hearing impaired; the rule ‘use commas to denote pauses in spoken language’ is not a lot of help, and we’ve had to call in air strikes–there are computer games that teach punctuation.

    Mrs Phoenix is, for reasons she hasn’t determined, punctuation-impaired. I got her a basket of periods, capitals, and semi-colons for the holidays. IYKWIMAITYD. (No, really, I had my artist BIL make her a basket of punctuation marks with scraps from his laser cut metal work.)

  42. 42.

    YellowJournalism

    December 10, 2013 at 10:38 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Want! Where did you see the shirt?

  43. 43.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    December 10, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    No thread on the congress compromise? betrayal? Disappoint.

  44. 44.

    burnspbesq

    December 10, 2013 at 11:27 pm

    @GHayduke (formerly lojasmo):

    Disappoint.

    We’re waiting for Andrew Sullivan to tell us whether it’s betrayal or meep-meep.

    Except for those who are waiting for someone at FDL to tell us whether we’ve been stabbed in the bus or thrown under the back.

  45. 45.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 10, 2013 at 11:36 pm

    Sky News is a Murdoch owned nest of hacks, so what the fuck do you expect?

  46. 46.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 10, 2013 at 11:55 pm

    @LT: Dude, it has its own song.

  47. 47.

    Lurking Buffoon

    December 11, 2013 at 12:58 am

    This may become my new favorite example of why the comma is fucking important, if only to savor wingnut attempts to convince themselves it’s true and subsequent rage. My previous favorite being this, http://www.verbicidemagazine.com/2011/09/20/strippers-jfk-and-stalin-illustrate-why-you-should-use-the-serial-comma/

  48. 48.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    December 11, 2013 at 1:33 am

    @YellowJournalism:

    I’ve seen different versions at places like Cafe Press and Zazzle, but the one I liked most, font-wise, was in the Signals catalog (which is also online, but links from the phone don’t usually work).

  49. 49.

    VidaLoca

    December 11, 2013 at 7:31 am

    @ruemara: What an article. I was stunned. Thanks for passing along the link.

  50. 50.

    currants

    December 11, 2013 at 10:12 am

    @Mnemosyne: A grandmother I know (who is also a judge) has a tote bag with something similar on it….

  51. 51.

    currants

    December 11, 2013 at 10:13 am

    @jl: (“Punctuation” is in italics, which don’t show up on my phone, only on the computer)

  52. 52.

    The Other Chuck

    December 11, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.

  53. 53.

    Lyrebird

    December 11, 2013 at 10:14 pm

    @efgoldman: So true! I tell my stoonts that leaden prose is my fave, just for that reason! (the writing topics are all technical, not expressive)

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