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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Punctuation matters
We've all seen those lists of sentences where punctuation matters. ("A woman: without her, man is nothing.") I have thought of a class(1) of such sentences: they are of the form
(,) so . . E.g.,
I gave you an A(,) so you should be happy.
.
(1) I'm used to using 'class' or 'family' the way I did 'class' herein; but are they used that way outside the math world?
Michael Hamm
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis
(Email Removed) Standard disclaimers: http://math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ ... legal.html
(,) so . . E.g.,
I gave you an A(,) so you should be happy.
.
(1) I'm used to using 'class' or 'family' the way I did 'class' herein; but are they used that way outside the math world?
Michael Hamm
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis
(Email Removed) Standard disclaimers: http://math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ ... legal.html
Top answer
> Is the comma really optional? This is ordinarily my minimal contrast: I gave you an A so you would be happy. I gave you an A, so you should be happy.
- > Is the comma really optional?
- This is ordinarily my minimal contrast: I gave you an A so you would be happy.
- I gave you an A, so you should be happy.
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8 Answers
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>
Is the comma really optional? This is ordinarily my minimal contrast:
I gave you an A so you would be happy.
I gave you an A, so you should be happy.
Is the comma really optional? This is ordinarily my minimal contrast:
I gave you an A so you would be happy.
I gave you an A, so you should be happy.
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[nq:1]> Is the comma really optional? This is ordinarily my minimal contrast: I gave you an A so you would be happy. I gave you an A, so you should be happy.[/nq]
One of the OP's variants works as a poetical usage, I feel.
Andrew Gwilliam
To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm"
One of the OP's variants works as a poetical usage, I feel.
Andrew Gwilliam
To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm"
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[nq:2]> Is the comma really optional?[/nq]
Not sure what you're asking. I meant that it's not optional. Do you disagree, because you'd use 'would' if you meant the sentence that has no comma? Do you not agree that 'should' sans comma means the same as 'would' sans comma?
[nq:2]This is ordinarily my minimal contrast: I gave you an ... I gave you an A, so you should be happy.[/nq]
Not sure what you're asking. I meant that it's not optional. Do you disagree, because you'd use 'would' if you meant the sentence that has no comma? Do you not agree that 'should' sans comma means the same as 'would' sans comma?
[nq:2]This is ordinarily my minimal contrast: I gave you an ... I gave you an A, so you should be happy.[/nq]
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[nq:1]Do you not agree that 'should' sans comma means the same as 'would' sans comma?[/nq]
No, I don't believe I'd agree: the 'should'-sans-comma version is so strained as to be rhythmically improbable: my thesis is that, in the conversational styles that come to mind,
I gave you an A so you should be happy.
is mispunctuated.
No, I don't believe I'd agree: the 'should'-sans-comma version is so strained as to be rhythmically improbable: my thesis is that, in the conversational styles that come to mind,
I gave you an A so you should be happy.
is mispunctuated.
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[nq:1]We've all seen those lists of sentences where punctuation matters. ("A woman: without her, man is nothing.") I have thought ... using 'class' or 'family' the way I did 'class' herein; but are they used that way outside the math world?[/nq]
Are you saying the number of such sentences is so huge it can't be denumerated by a proper set?
Are you saying the number of such sentences is so huge it can't be denumerated by a proper set?
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[nq:2]We've all seen those lists of sentences where punctuation matters. ... but are they used that way outside the math world?[/nq]
[nq:1]Are you saying the number of such sentences is so huge it can't be denumerated by a proper set?[/nq]
Not at all. We use 'class' or 'family' to refer even to a set.
Michael Hamm
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis
(Email Removed) Standard discl
[nq:1]Are you saying the number of such sentences is so huge it can't be denumerated by a proper set?[/nq]
Not at all. We use 'class' or 'family' to refer even to a set.
Michael Hamm
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis
(Email Removed) Standard discl
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[nq:2]Are you saying the number of such sentences is so huge it can't be denumerated by a proper set?[/nq]
[nq:1]Not at all. We use 'class' or 'family' to refer even to a set.[/nq]
I remember now. Everything is a class; "proper class" means it's not a set.
[nq:1]Not at all. We use 'class' or 'family' to refer even to a set.[/nq]
I remember now. Everything is a class; "proper class" means it's not a set.
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[nq:2]Are you saying the number of such sentences is so huge it can't be denumerated by a proper set?[/nq]
[nq:1]Not at all. We use 'class' or 'family' to refer even to a set.[/nq]
And in case you're wondering why I used 'class' rather than 'set': Because 'class' (or, even more frequently, 'family', which I should really have used instead) is used to denote a set that depends on some param
[nq:1]Not at all. We use 'class' or 'family' to refer even to a set.[/nq]
And in case you're wondering why I used 'class' rather than 'set': Because 'class' (or, even more frequently, 'family', which I should really have used instead) is used to denote a set that depends on some param
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