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Our book club nearly broke up over a single comma placement
We were reading a new translation of a classic novel. The debate got heated about a line on page 142. One member insisted the comma changed the whole character's motive. I was tired of the two hour argument. So I pulled up the original language text online. I read the sentence structure out loud to the group. It actually settled the fight in about five minutes. Has your club ever had a grammar war?
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jake_hall8810d ago
People act like a comma is life or death but in my experience most of these arguments are just people wanting to be right more than they care about the story. Two hours over a comma? Sounds like the book club needed more snacks and less ego honestly. Glad the original language shut it down though, that's pretty solid detective work on your part. Still, I bet half the members walked away still convinced they were right anyway.
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the_jason2mo ago
Ever try reading the sentence without punctuation first?
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It's wild how much we rely on tiny marks to make sense of things. I see it everywhere now, like how a missing comma can totally change a text message. Makes you wonder how people even read stuff before punctuation was a big deal. Kind of a neat little hack to try and see the raw words first.
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