Ever felt guilty for using a comma before ‘and’? We have. Who can forget the mantra of English teachers up and down the country: you don’t need a comma before ‘and’, they would say. Well guess what. They were wrong.
It’s not just English teachers either. A comma before ‘and’ is often taken out by sub-editors of newspapers, who think it’s unnecessary. And to be fair, it often is. But not always. It’s another one of those language myths, like starting a sentence with ‘And’ or ‘But’, or splitting an infinitive.
Putting a comma before ‘and’ is perfectly acceptable if it helps clarify the meaning of the sentence. It even has its own name – the ‘Oxford comma’ – due to its consistent use by Oxford University Press. And not only its own name, its own darn song: ‘Oxford Comma’, by trendy American songsters Vampire Weekend….
What the song probably doesn’t make clear is that the Oxford comma is useful to add clarity in complicated lists, or lists where some of the elements themselves contain the word ‘and’. For example:
Rebecca was proud of her new cupcake recipes: blueberry, peanut butter and chocolate chip and coconut.
Without the comma, you can’t be sure how many new recipes there are. Is it four or three? And if it’s three, is it peanut butter and choc chip, or choc chip and coconut? Or is it two flavours, the second being a tempting combination of peanut butter, choc chip and coconut?
But put the comma in and all becomes clear:
Rebecca was proud of her new cupcake recipes: blueberry, peanut butter and chocolate chip, and coconut.
So, next time you’re tempted to insert a comma before ‘and’, just sing-a-long with Vampire Weekend and go for it.
Commas are a really useful writing tool. You could compare them to taking a breath when writing a sentence. However, it’s easy to go over the top and use them incorrectly.
One of the worst offenders is the comma splice. Put simply, a comma splice occurs in sentence where a full stop or a connecting word should have been used instead.
Some examples of a comma splice:
The team had worked really hard today, it was time for a cup of coffee. My cat went missing last week, this morning it was on my bed.
There are many reasons to visit Greece, the beaches are lovely.
The two parts here could stand independently as two separate sentences, so a comma should not be used.
There are two ways to solve these splices. One is to use a connecting word (also known as a coordinator) to join the two independent sections. Coordinators are words like: and, but, or, yet and so.
The team had worked really hard today, so it was time for a cup of coffee. My cat went missing last week, but this morning it was on my bed.
There are many reasons to visit Greece, and the beaches are lovely.
The second solution is to be brave and close off each sentence with a full stop.
The team had worked really hard today. It was time for a cup of coffee. My cat went missing last week. This morning it was on my bed.
There are many reasons to visit Greece. The beaches are lovely.
Once you’re aware of this really common error, you’ll probably spot it everywhere. Time to get the red pen out.
Office-speak and clichés are so well established, it’s easy to play buzzword bingo in management meetings. It’s less difficult to spot in writing, but a very easy habit to fall into.
Clichés can be a useful shortcut to getting your point across or painting a picture, for example ‘it’s like talking to a brick wall’ or ‘he’s got ants in his pants’. But used in the wrong context, or too often, and they damage your credibility and dilute your message.
So instead of trotting out the same tired cliché, go back to basics and ask yourself what the cliché is actually trying to say:
‘think outside the box’ – some new ideas or creative thought
‘let’s touch base later by the end of play today’ – I’ll give you a call before 5pm today
‘can I give you a heads up on our new value-added proposition’ – we’d like to show you our great new idea
Another way of trying to cut your cliché count is to consider reading your words as if English wasn’t your first language. If they don’t make sense literally, then avoid them.
Remember, if your communication is specific and personal, rather than vague and generic, it will make your writing brighter, unique and more memorable.
This month’s writing tip is about less is more. Literally. It’s about using fewer words to communicate more clearly and effectively.
Part of that is about learning to use straightforward language and minimising jargon and bluster. But that’s for another newsletter.
A quick way to add a bit of zing to your writing is to learn to cut out unnecessary words. There are dozens of expressions, common phrases and clichés, that we all use out of habit, but which add nothing but clutter to our sentences.
For example, in the sentence:
We invested a total of £10m in the new building – a total of can be safely deleted without it changing the meaning of the sentence at all. Similarly with the sum of or the amount of.
There are dozens of phrases like this that can either be removed completely or expressed more concisely.
Here’s a few more:
despite the fact that – despite
designed (or aims) to provide – provides
in spite of the fact that – although
in all probability – probably
on a monthly basis – monthly
full and final – just full (or just final)
first and foremost – first
it would be safe to say that X is… – X is…
in excess of – more than
in respect of – for
in the event of – if
prior to – before
with regard to – about
in order to – to
as and when – when
each and every – each (or every)
So the next time you find yourself automatically using one of these phrases – or many more like it - ask yourself, do you really need all those words?
You may have heard the tale of how, in the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway bet ten dollars that he could write a complete story in just six words. He wrote: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” He won the bet and often referred to the story as his best work ever.
There are now dozens of websites devoted to six-word stories (just try Googling it). One of the best is from US online magazine Smith, which tweaked the rules by asking its readers to sum up their own lives in just six words.
The results are surprisingly poignant; often funny (“No more kisses, whisker burn lingers.”), sometimes sad (“Two sons. One died; now none.”), sometimes regretful (“Wishing I’d jumped sooner, missed mark.”), even a little scary (“He seemed ok at the time”). You should try it; we did.
As business copywriters, we’re always banging on about conciseness and short sentences. And while we don’t expect you to turn your firm’s client newsletters, your website or your marketing material into heart-wrenching six-word stories (wouldn’t that be fun, though!), it’s a reminder of just how emotional and powerful words can be, even just six of the little blighters.
So think of that, next time you’re trying to explain to your boss why your ten-word sentence is better than his 30-word jargon fest.
