Re: Question: Comma Before Company Abbreviation?

["Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info>]

I don't think I said it was law.

The comma is part of the name and not a grammatical feature of the sentence,
isn't it?

 I don't see parallels in the examples below. A name is to be considered as
a *word*, and words do not have punctuation.

However, with regard to the geographic example you presented (I will concede
that CMOS says the date must have the final comma), the following usage is
quite common, and I cannot find a rule to refute it:

"He lived in Washington, D.C. for 50 years." Of course in the example you
presented, the state was abbreviated.

I think we have two questions now -- the name question and the geographic
question.

Here are a couple of samples from recent news articles. It's true that
sometimes people also use a final comma after the "Inc.", but whether that
is wrong or not I am not sure.

1.  http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/020205/52801_1.html
CSS Industries, Inc. Reports Sales and Earnings for the Quarter and Nine
Months Ended December 31, 2001
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2002--CSS Industries, Inc.
(NYSE:CSS - news) announced today the results of operations for the third
quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2001.


2.  http://www.citrix.com/investors/Default.asp

Founded in 1989, Citrix Systems, Inc. is a global leader in application
serving

----------
There are lots of examples of using "I lived in Albany, New York for 25
years."

Bonnie Granat
bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info
http://www.editors-writers.info


----- Original Message -----
From: "Dick Margulis " <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>; "Bonnie Granat"
<bgranat -at- editors-writers -dot- info>
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: Question: Comma Before Company Abbreviation?


> Bonnie, it's grammar, not law.
>
> It's analogous to the rule that you enclose a year or a state name in
commas, as in the following examples (note--these are not the only possible
styles for expressing dates or locations; they are just the styles chosen
for these example):
>
> On November 22, 1963, the world changed.
>
> The McDonalds in Tupelo, Miss., serves grits for breakfast. [I just made
that up; I have no idea if it's true.]
>
> Bonnie, you would not (or at least should not) write, "On November 22,
1963 the world changed," or, "The McDonalds in Tupelo, Miss. serves grits
for breakfast."




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Did you know you can get RoboHelp certified?
To learn how, visit http://www.ehelp.com/techwr. Be sure to also check out
our special pricing offers and promotions for RoboHelp 2002.

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.