I was jumping about up to my thighs in the waters.
Is a comma necessary after "about", or in another place in the sentence?
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2 Answers
Both are possible, and have slightly different meanings.
With a comma, you are saying that you were "jumping about":
I was jumping about, up to my thighs in the waters.
The second way to parse it, you were just "jumping" and the waters were "about up to your thighs":
I was jumping about up to my thighs in the waters.
In which case you could also place a comma after jumping:
I was jumping, about up to my thighs in the waters.
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I was jumping about, about up to my thighs in the waters. Commented Feb 21, 2014 at 18:00
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2@EdwinAshworth I was about to have a bout of about 20 minutes of jumping about, about up to my thighs in the waters about. Commented Feb 21, 2014 at 18:18
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@Digital Chris: I was about to say that! (Is this a context where I could reasonably say "Jinx!" instead? If so, can I have a glass of wine? I don't drink Coke! :) Commented Feb 21, 2014 at 18:41
I would say you need commas after about and thighs. Up to my thighs is a parenthetical phrase and needs to be offset. (I'm no grammarian, so feel free to behead me for being wrong on that.)
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That would be one comma too many, even for prescriptivists, I think. Up to my thighs in water, I jumped about. Commented Feb 21, 2014 at 17:45
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@Susan I would read it as: I was jumping about in water. (The water was up to my thighs). Not sure if that is making my point clearer.– David MCommented Feb 21, 2014 at 20:11
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1Yes, I did understand your point, but I don't think you need to close off everything that can sometimes be taken as a parenthetical. This reads badly: *I jumped about, up to my thighs, in water. It's a mediocre sentence turned ogre. Commented Feb 22, 2014 at 2:45
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