Use of commas

[Vark]

I could use some comma advice. A student's sentence has been bothering me and I am not sure whether it should be corrected or not. To protect the innocent, the sentence reads something like, "I love reading the news, specifically articles on politics." Should I suggest placing a comma after the word "specifically" or is this fine as is? Yes, I know that I could suggest the rephrasing, "I love reading articles about politics." But for future reference and my own piece of mind, how should the word "specifically" be handled?

[ciao_yall]

I could use some comma advice. A student's sentence has been bothering me and I am not sure whether it should be corrected or not. To protect the innocent, the sentence reads something like, "I love reading the news, specifically articles on politics." Should I suggest placing a comma after the word "specifically" or is this fine as is? Yes, I know that I could suggest the rephrasing, "I love reading articles about politics." But for future reference and my own piece of mind, how should the word "specifically" be handled?

How about "I love reading news about politics."

[tiva]

Former journal editor here: Yes, technically, the comma should follow specifically. (It's a transitional word that conveys an example: https://theeditorsblog.net/2015/08/27/introduce-me-with-a-comma/ ). But this is not the grammar hill I would pledge to die upson, and I would only correct the student if this were a paper being submitted for publication.

[downer]

My first inclination was to think that this must be casual usage, because it sounds conversational. But maybe it is part of formal English.

On Quora, an author recommends a semi-colon before the word and a comma after.

I'd be tempted to use different punctuation instead of a semi-colon -- specifically, a long hyphen.

[Vark]

I thought of suggesting the em dash, but because the standard is potential publication, it seemed a bit too informal.

[Hegemony]

I would vote against a comma after specifically.

[writingprof]

I would vote against a comma after specifically.

This.  A comma after specifically obscures the meaning of the sentence by making it less clear which clause specifically belongs to. 

I would reword the sentence in my own work but would use no second comma if wed to that wording.

[downer]

We already have a thread on comma use, so no need to start a new one.

The MS grammar suggestion tells me that in a sentence like

"So he agreed to have dinner."

there should be a comma after the "So".

"So, he agreed to have dinner."

This doesn't seem right to me, and certainly not a grammar requirement. On the whole, I think it is better to be economical with commas. In the "So" case, the two sentences seem quite different to me. You would not put a comma after "Then", and the "So" functions more like a "Then" in this case. Putting in a comma turns it into something like a narrative pause.

[arcturus]

I am not a grammarian...

"So, he agreed to have dinner." does have a narrative pause, which is what I would expect for this sentence. It would be different if it were a question "So he agreed to have dinner?" where I would not expect such a pause. "Then he agreed to have dinner." also would not have a narrative pause in my mental accounting. So, in this case, I agree with the grammar suggestion.

In a similiar note, can some one please explain why "take into account" is highlighted as incorrect by MS Word?

[mamselle]

They (MSW) want you to use "consider," perhaps?

I consider it a good day when I can go through an article in MSW and knock out all their wrong pseudo-suggestions with "ignore this issue."

Lately, what's infuriating me there is the new "Pounce on it!" pink cloud mess that both highlights something that isn't even wrong yet, and tries to correct it, before you're even done typing the thing--and I can't find out where to turn it off.

Its most annoying feature is that if you try to keep typing, it presumes you've accepted the highlighted material as wrong and deletes-inserts-covers it up with whatever you were going on to type next. THAT means I have to go back, stop typing, tap the screen at the 'fix-it-moron's' entry point, re-type, and then (hopefully) go on.

Since I often use French or Latin words, it zenophobically pounces on those, too (and I have those languages set up as secondary vocabularies--it ignores those set-ups, as well...) and so all my work gets slowed down while I re-fix what ain't broken.

No wonder I'm avoiding finishing that article...(a-hem...)

M.

[marshwiggle]

Lately, what's infuriating me there is the new "Pounce on it!" pink cloud mess that both highlights something that isn't even wrong yet, and tries to correct it, before you're even done typing the thing--and I can't find out where to turn it off.

Its most annoying feature is that if you try to keep typing, it presumes you've accepted the highlighted material as wrong and deletes-inserts-covers it up with whatever you were going on to type next. THAT means I have to go back, stop typing, tap the screen at the 'fix-it-moron's' entry point, re-type, and then (hopefully) go on.

I blame this on the younger generation who blindly rely on technology to do everything, without any consideration of whether it's being done well.
"Not having to think about it" seems next to godliness for them.

[mamselle]

That, and idle IT folks who know how to code and come up with make-work projects for themselves that they foist on the public, just to justify their jobs.

Remember Mr. Clippy?  (...shudders...)

Even his inventor didn't want to see it applied to EVERYTHING!

M.

[fishbrains]

I would vote against a comma after specifically.

+1.

[dr_evil]

Its most annoying feature is that if you try to keep typing, it presumes you've accepted the highlighted material as wrong and deletes-inserts-covers it up with whatever you were going on to type next. THAT means I have to go back, stop typing, tap the screen at the 'fix-it-moron's' entry point, re-type, and then (hopefully) go on.

M.

I had my email driving me nuts the other day with those types of "suggestions." I type fast enough that I didn't even catch their suggestions until everything was messed up. I need to figure out how to turn that feature off. 

I remember planning something evil to get rid of 'Clippy,' but even he (it?) was less trouble to get rid of that this.

[mamselle]

If you figure out how to turn it off anywhere, let me know.

Texts are especially grating, especially in French.

They did put a "turn off Mr. Clippy" function into the works somewhere along the way, and finally stopped even making it a default on opening app.

But, yeah. I think there were some humorous graphics of a tortured, tangled, pummeled Mr. Clippy that prompted his/its demise...

   https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/117/888/Microsoft-Clippy-640x480.png

and

   http://pixelartmaker.com/art/8124f48a7bec527

and

   https://steve-lovelace.com/microsofts-biggest-failures/

and

   https://esmemes.com/i/60e7be79e4a442d48e0d647a3ddacc26

M.