Q. In response to a question about the use of serial commas, you responded in favor of the extraneous comma with the example “With gratitude to my parents, Mother Teresa and the pope”—which you claimed created confusion. But doesn’t the same confusion arise in some cases if the serial comma is added: “With gratitude to my mom, Mother Teresa, and the pope”? Why wouldn’t you recommend rewriting the sentence in either case to avoid the ambiguity: “With gratitude to Mother Teresa, the pope and my parents”?
Q. Dear CMOS, Perhaps you can help resolve a raging debate I have been having with my coauthor. This debate, which is perilously close to becoming a very ugly brawl, concerns the all too underused phrase “nobody, but nobody.” I say that “but nobody” is a parenthetic expression and should be set off in commas, as in “Nobody, but nobody, should trifle with the Etiquette Grrls.” She insists vehemently that the commas absolutely, positively, MUST go, no arguments about it, and I have been unable to persuade her to change her mind. I think it looks simply dreadful without the commas, and besides, the meaning is then altered to “nobody EXCEPT FOR nobody,” isn’t it? (Rather than simply emphasizing the first “nobody.”) Who is correct? Thank you ever so much. Also, may I say that I simply adore your Q&A page? (I’m a Grammar Geek, I guess . . . what can one say?) I had no idea that such things as style could be so witty! Thanks again! Yours sincerely, Honore Ervin, The Etiquette Grrls Are Crusading for Polite Behavior in a Tacky, Rude World.
Q. Hello. In the sentence “I went to the store to buy eggs, milk and cheese” do you put a comma after “milk”? What is the standard now for comma usage after the second-to-last item? I have seen such sentences both with and without the comma. Thanks.
Q. My question relates to the proper use of the comma when using a subordinate clause introduced by the pronoun “which” or “who.” My impression is that a comma to set off the clause is proper sometimes but not always. For example, if I say, “I have a car which has four doors,” a comma introducing the clause is not appropriate. However, if I say, “My car, which has four doors, is blue,” the comma is proper. I am not quite sure how to articulate the rule for when the comma is proper and when not. Can you help me?
Q. When a city and a state are mentioned in a sentence, am I correct in placing commas after the state name as well as before the state name? “Mary traveled to Seattle, Washington, before going on to California.” And when “Jr.” follows a name in a sentence, is it necessary to add a comma before it? How about after it?
Q. I wish to say that I have oranges, apples, and pears, and all of the oranges, apples, and pears have recently arrived at the supermarket. I write the following sentence: “I have oranges, apples, and pears, recently arrived at the supermarket.” Does the comma before “recently” mean that the words “recently arrived at the supermarket” apply to each of the oranges, apples, and pears? If I removed the comma before “recently,” would the sentence now mean that only the pears had recently arrived at the supermarket?
Q. Three people have three strong opinions about commas in the following passage: “He thinks that, if he asks for directions, his membership in the brotherhood of men will be revoked. He would rather be lost.” Person A likes both commas. Person B would omit the first but keep the second. Person C would strike both. Please judge us.
Q. I was always taught that one needs to put a subject after a comma and conjunction so that it joins two independent clauses. For example: “Sara picked a flower from the garden, and she smelled it.” So, per the rule, if there is no “she” in the second part of the sentence, it shouldn’t have a comma: “Sara picked a flower from the garden and smelled it.” I’ve seen that many publications ignore this rule. I’m wondering if this isn’t a real rule, or perhaps I misunderstood it? Thanks in advance.
Q. I can’t wrap my brain around this question re appositives. In the following sentence, is the man’s name restrictive or nonrestrictive? Ask Ruth’s childhood friend Tom Jones to help.
Q. A physicists’ society newsletter reported on some portraits by famed physicist and part-time artist Richard Feynman, noting, “The works were acquired by Princeton, where Feynman had been a graduate student, in the mid-eighties.” One reader chided the editors, claiming that the sentence makes Feynman (born 1918) a sixty-plus-year-old graduate student. I feel the comma after “graduate student” sets off the phrase correctly. How do I make my case concisely, or what rule do I cite? Or am I wrong?