Re: Re: and then

[Susan W. Gallagher <sgallagher5 -at- cox -dot- net>]

Bonnie,
While I agree in theory, you have to take a good hard look
at the possibility that the reader will notice the error.
In a matter of (nearly) universal agreement, such as subject/
verb agreement or using an adverb to modify a verb, then yes,
the average reader will notice and may experience some 
cognitive dissonance as a result of the error. But in the
area of a comma splice??? I'd wager that fewer than 1% of
my target audience realize that this is not a perfectly 
acceptable construction.

And language changes - sometimes faster for our audience
than for us. As I said at the end of my post - the "comma
then" construction is so ubiquitous - especially in software
docs - that doing it the "right" way may indeed cause more
consternation than does the error.

another two pennies...
-Sue Gallagher
> 
> From: "Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com>

> People who read instructions and notice incorrect grammar often conclude
> that the instructions cannot be trusted -- because the writer hasn't
> even mastered how to write a proper English sentence. That's the way it
> is. When one uses English in a nonstandard way, that is the risk one
> takes.
> 



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