Re: Who will stun the world as next Einstein?

From: Franz Heymann (notfranz.heymann_at_btopenworld.com)
Date: 02/25/05 

Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2005 21:53:37 +0000 (UTC)

"Dirk Van de moortel" <dirkvandemoortel@ThankS-NO-SperM.hotmail.com>
wrote in message news:421f1b82$1@usenet01.boi.hp.com...
>
> "Franz Heymann" <notfranz.heymann@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:cvke3t$79l$1@titan.btinternet.com...
>
> [snip]
>
> > Donkeys' years ago, when I had to do a series of programmes for
the
> > BBC overseas servic, I was told by the producer that I was to
avoid
> > the use of commas entirely, and to place full-stops no further
that 10
> > words apart.
>
> Franz, this is only slightly related to your remark...
>
> I don't know about Afrikaans, but in Dutch we have some
> kind of rule that tells us where in a sentence we are not
> allowed to insert a comma. The rule is:
> "When you *can* replace the comma with a full-stop
> without making the sentence(s) grammatically incorrect,
> you *must* replace the comma with a full-stop in
> order to *make* the sentence(s) grammatically correct".
> Note that the rule does not tell when commas *must* be
> used.
>
> Examples:
>
> In this sentence, the commas are allowed, because
> if you replace them with full-stops, you end up with
> garbage like this:
> "In this sentence. The commas are allowed. Because
> if you replace them with full-stops. You end up with
> garbage like ..."
> So the commas were allowed.
>
> In this sentence, the second comma must be replaced
> with a full-stop, the reason is that we *can* replace it,
> and still have correct sentences like this:
> "In this sentence, the second comma must be replaced
> with a full-stop. The reason is that we *can* replace it,
> and still have correct sentences like..."
> So the second comma had to be replaced.
>
> It seems that the rule applies in English as well :-)

It does in Afrikaans too.
Have you ever heard the footballer David Beckman give an interview for
the telly?
He uses the novel punctuation style of replacing *every* full stop
either with an "and" or a "basically" 

-- 
Franz
"The great tragedy of science -- the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis
by an ugly fact."
T.H. Huxley

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