Timeline for Best way to phrase "{x and y} and z"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 12, 2014 at 21:41 | comment | added | anongoodnurse | Given that the subgroup of two won't always share a common adjective, I think noting that the comma here is doing exactly what the comma is meant to do, and suits the purpose well. It isn't awkward at all. | |
| Mar 12, 2014 at 21:32 | answer | added | M Vabulas | timeline score: 0 | |
| Mar 12, 2014 at 20:58 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | There is not a hint of error in adding the comma. I can understand your feeling about the shift it might be taken to imply, but most people take the multi-purpose nature of the comma in their stride. Reading out "I need help finding brown and grey foxes, and turtles." people would probably use different stress (than for the comma-less version) rather than just add a pause. | |
| Mar 12, 2014 at 20:03 | comment | added | Michael | I agree, better example; although, as I commented below, I feel the added comma ",and turtles" feels dissociated from the "finding brown and grey foxes". The added comma is entirely acceptable then? I do like the idea of '&' for less formal documents. Thanks! | |
| Mar 12, 2014 at 17:00 | answer | added | fdb | timeline score: 0 | |
| Mar 12, 2014 at 17:00 | history | edited | JSBձոգչ |
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| Mar 12, 2014 at 16:43 | review | First posts | |||
| Mar 12, 2014 at 17:09 | |||||
| Mar 12, 2014 at 16:38 | comment | added | Edwin Ashworth | Wouldn't a better example of a poorer arrangement be "I need help finding brown and grey foxes and turtles."? Rearranging it the way you do disambiguates. As does adding a comma / pause: "I need help finding brown and grey foxes, and turtles." With more complex situations, using & as a lower-level 'and' is used by some: "I can't decide between fish & chips, and bacon & eggs." | |
| Mar 12, 2014 at 16:34 | answer | added | Ronan | timeline score: 1 | |
| Mar 12, 2014 at 16:25 | history | asked | Michael | CC BY-SA 3.0 |