Why does Orwell omit so many commas (and include some where they don't belong)?
When reading Orwell, my eyes immediately find themselves locked onto each grammatical "error." Very frequently he will omit commas where they are today necessary. I will list some examples, but keep in mind that this is only at the surface—I could indeed find many, many more.
And, for reference, both Google Docs and Grammarly agree with me where some of these commas should be.
Its combination of qualities made possible the success of the American and French revolutions, [sic] and made a popular insurrection a more serious business than it could be in our own day.
In that case [sic] we are back where we were before, the only difference being that power is concentrated in still fewer hands and that the outlook for subject peoples and oppressed classes is still more hopeless.
...‘Abolished frontiers’; actually [sic] it is only since the aeroplane.
In certain circumstances [sic] it can break down, at certain levels of civilization it does not exist, but as a positive force [sic] there is nothing to set beside it.
...but in fact [sic] anyone able to use his eyes...
Also, in moments of supreme crisis [sic] the whole nation can suddenly draw together and act upon a species of instinct.
I could seriously do this for hours. I'm not criticizing Orwell. In my opinion, many of these sentences simply read better without the comma assaulting your eyes. But as someone who is going to be a journalist, I am massively confused by this habit of many of my favorite authors. From purely a grammatical standpoint, am I able to omit some of these commas as well?
grammar commas
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
When reading Orwell, my eyes immediately find themselves locked onto each grammatical "error." Very frequently he will omit commas where they are today necessary. I will list some examples, but keep in mind that this is only at the surface—I could indeed find many, many more.
And, for reference, both Google Docs and Grammarly agree with me where some of these commas should be.
Its combination of qualities made possible the success of the American and French revolutions, [sic] and made a popular insurrection a more serious business than it could be in our own day.
In that case [sic] we are back where we were before, the only difference being that power is concentrated in still fewer hands and that the outlook for subject peoples and oppressed classes is still more hopeless.
...‘Abolished frontiers’; actually [sic] it is only since the aeroplane.
In certain circumstances [sic] it can break down, at certain levels of civilization it does not exist, but as a positive force [sic] there is nothing to set beside it.
...but in fact [sic] anyone able to use his eyes...
Also, in moments of supreme crisis [sic] the whole nation can suddenly draw together and act upon a species of instinct.
I could seriously do this for hours. I'm not criticizing Orwell. In my opinion, many of these sentences simply read better without the comma assaulting your eyes. But as someone who is going to be a journalist, I am massively confused by this habit of many of my favorite authors. From purely a grammatical standpoint, am I able to omit some of these commas as well?
grammar commas
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Which question do you want answered? Why does Orwell omit commas or Can I omit commas?
– KillingTime
8 mins ago
I refuse to accept the premise that it's either/or. :)
– Sermo
1 min ago
add a comment |
When reading Orwell, my eyes immediately find themselves locked onto each grammatical "error." Very frequently he will omit commas where they are today necessary. I will list some examples, but keep in mind that this is only at the surface—I could indeed find many, many more.
And, for reference, both Google Docs and Grammarly agree with me where some of these commas should be.
Its combination of qualities made possible the success of the American and French revolutions, [sic] and made a popular insurrection a more serious business than it could be in our own day.
In that case [sic] we are back where we were before, the only difference being that power is concentrated in still fewer hands and that the outlook for subject peoples and oppressed classes is still more hopeless.
...‘Abolished frontiers’; actually [sic] it is only since the aeroplane.
In certain circumstances [sic] it can break down, at certain levels of civilization it does not exist, but as a positive force [sic] there is nothing to set beside it.
...but in fact [sic] anyone able to use his eyes...
Also, in moments of supreme crisis [sic] the whole nation can suddenly draw together and act upon a species of instinct.
I could seriously do this for hours. I'm not criticizing Orwell. In my opinion, many of these sentences simply read better without the comma assaulting your eyes. But as someone who is going to be a journalist, I am massively confused by this habit of many of my favorite authors. From purely a grammatical standpoint, am I able to omit some of these commas as well?
grammar commas
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
When reading Orwell, my eyes immediately find themselves locked onto each grammatical "error." Very frequently he will omit commas where they are today necessary. I will list some examples, but keep in mind that this is only at the surface—I could indeed find many, many more.
And, for reference, both Google Docs and Grammarly agree with me where some of these commas should be.
Its combination of qualities made possible the success of the American and French revolutions, [sic] and made a popular insurrection a more serious business than it could be in our own day.
In that case [sic] we are back where we were before, the only difference being that power is concentrated in still fewer hands and that the outlook for subject peoples and oppressed classes is still more hopeless.
...‘Abolished frontiers’; actually [sic] it is only since the aeroplane.
In certain circumstances [sic] it can break down, at certain levels of civilization it does not exist, but as a positive force [sic] there is nothing to set beside it.
...but in fact [sic] anyone able to use his eyes...
Also, in moments of supreme crisis [sic] the whole nation can suddenly draw together and act upon a species of instinct.
I could seriously do this for hours. I'm not criticizing Orwell. In my opinion, many of these sentences simply read better without the comma assaulting your eyes. But as someone who is going to be a journalist, I am massively confused by this habit of many of my favorite authors. From purely a grammatical standpoint, am I able to omit some of these commas as well?
grammar commas
grammar commas
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
asked 1 hour ago
SermoSermo
101
101
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Sermo is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Which question do you want answered? Why does Orwell omit commas or Can I omit commas?
– KillingTime
8 mins ago
I refuse to accept the premise that it's either/or. :)
– Sermo
1 min ago
add a comment |
Which question do you want answered? Why does Orwell omit commas or Can I omit commas?
– KillingTime
8 mins ago
I refuse to accept the premise that it's either/or. :)
– Sermo
1 min ago
Which question do you want answered? Why does Orwell omit commas or Can I omit commas?
– KillingTime
8 mins ago
Which question do you want answered? Why does Orwell omit commas or Can I omit commas?
– KillingTime
8 mins ago
I refuse to accept the premise that it's either/or. :)
– Sermo
1 min ago
I refuse to accept the premise that it's either/or. :)
– Sermo
1 min ago
add a comment |
0
active
oldest
votes
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sermo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f485873%2fwhy-does-orwell-omit-so-many-commas-and-include-some-where-they-dont-belong%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
0
active
oldest
votes
0
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Sermo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sermo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sermo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Sermo is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f485873%2fwhy-does-orwell-omit-so-many-commas-and-include-some-where-they-dont-belong%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Which question do you want answered? Why does Orwell omit commas or Can I omit commas?
– KillingTime
8 mins ago
I refuse to accept the premise that it's either/or. :)
– Sermo
1 min ago