My boss has checked all my letters that I typed and he said in a serious tone, "You like your?

Question

commas, don't you?"
Do you think he was being rude?

Answer 1

er no

Answer 2

I don't think that he was being rude, although it may be a little sarcsatic. "Don't use so many f***ing commas" would have been rude!

He obviously thinks that you use too many commas, but without an example, we can't really say whether we agree with him or not. He may be right, or he may be stupid and completely wrong!

I suggest you get hold of a copy of "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" and read the section on commas. In fact, if you are writing and/or typing letters for a living, you should read the whole book - fortunately, it is quite short, quite amusing and very readable. Incidentally, the title of the book is all about using a comma when you shouldn't!


PS to Helen: the plural of "comma" is "commas" - please do not use apostrophes when pluralising.

Answer 3

No, he was just passing comment. If the letters are business letters then you will find that many bosses prefer the straightforward approach leaving out commas and not make the letter sound like you are speaking to someone through the letter.

I found this when I worked on a project where my Boss was an American. He just loved to cut to the chase, even if the letters were grammatically wrong.



I hope you understand what I am trying to say?

Answer 4

Commas are important when used correctly. Take this sentence for example: "Woman with her man is nothing". Commas can change the sentence dramatically,

1. Woman without her man, is nothing.
2. Woman, without her, man is nothing.

So before putting in the commas check the sentence so that the meaning is not changed by their use. Oh, and as Bosses rarely can spell, let alone know the rules of grammar, don't let your Boss intimidate you - I bet your punctuation makes all the difference with his letters! Good Luck.

Answer 5

I don't think he was rude. I think he was telling you that your work is currently not quite acceptable, as there are too many commas, and you need to change that. He could have meant one of two things:
1. He meant that you make a sentence run on too long by using commas, rather than splitting it up into seperate sentences.
2. Your knowledge of grammar isn't good enough and you use commas where you shouldn't. If anyone with good grammatical knowledge reads that, it will sounds very unprofessional, and so your habit will need correcting!

Answer 6

Professional letters include simple sentences. Using commas to connect two sentences is not advisable. I think your boss could have utilized a different approach to inform you that he prefers shorter sentences. Or he was being funny. Either way, try putting a period where you have been using commas and make a new sentence.

Answer 7

Yes he was being passive aggressive. Rather than just telling you directly that he thought that you should use more full stops instead of commas, he said it in that way to pretend he was just joking but to still get his point across. It's the way that an insecure person confronts an issue rather than being direct. Don't let him away with this, as these insidious little remarks will quickly become wearisome. The next time he acts like this, just take the wind from his sails by highlighting the issue yourself e.g. if he says " you like your commas don't you?" say in as equally as patronising a voice "yes, I do. Do you think that I use too many then?" Remember to make direct eye contact and smile. Being called out directly on what he was trying to say, will probably make him flustered and he will just mutter something like "oh, well yes , mmn you do overuse them a little bit" as he runs away! Believe me, he won't mention it again.

Answer 8

Either he's being sarcastic, or you are using too many commas - it's common that some people use way too many. Speak what you're writing, and when you hit a natural pause in the flow, that's when you use a comma. Oh, and be sure to pull him up on any grammatical mistakes of his own; especially apostrophe ones. :)

Answer 9

Yes, he was. In a not so nice way, he was telling you that your sentences are too run-on. It's a gramatical error known as comma splicing. You are taking two thoughts that should be separate sentences, and combining them with a comma.

Answer 10

Comma's break the sentence not the narrative , what he was saying was you don't allow the reader to stop for breathe .

if you ask me his saying you like your comma's don't you was actually a polite suggestion that perhaps you shouldn't use so many .

Answer 11

I think that if you improperly used commas (like I do all the time), then you deserved the comment and it wasn't rude. The truth isn't rude.