Sex. Now that I have your attention, I’d like to discuss the fact that this sentence you’re reading is not necessarily a run-on sentence because run-on sentences are not simply sentences that run on ...

One of the enemies of effective communication is the run-on sentence. Like ambiguity and dangling modifiers, it hampers understanding and makes speech and writing ugly. You should, therefore, beware ...

SEVERAL months ago I w as surprised to see Arnold Zwicky, a linguist, use a comma splice. A few commenters took me to task for being over-picky. The question came up again in the comments several days ...

You would think that one way to learn about the technical aspects of language is to read masterful writers, especially contemporary authors whose work is honored by critics and prize juries. So you ...

You can get Samuel Beckett’s most famous comma splice (absent commas) on a T-shirt or coffee mug Because the conventions for their use are so variable, commas can provide a quick sense of a writer’s ...