Greetings Ardith!   
      
    Brer Ardith Hinton wrote to Brer Roy Witt about Quotation Marks...  2A.:   
      
    AH> Hi, Roy!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
    AH>>  I had a university instructor... probably USAian, I guess,   
    AH>>  based on what I learned in later years... who criticized   
    AH>>  me for using "too many commas".  Brits tend to use commas   
    AH>>  with greater frequency than USAians do.  :-)   
      
    RW>>  Ah-Ha! This is something that has been raging in Fidonet   
    RW>>  for years.   
      
    AH>             Yes... I'm reminded of the two French teachers I worked   
    AH> with years ago who argued interminably over whether Parisian French   
    AH> or French-Canadian is more "correct".  It seems to me that a lot   
    AH> depends on the circumstances.  :-))   
      
   Especially where you hang your hat. 8^)   
      
    RW>>  My wife Nancy is a special education teacher, teaching   
    RW>>  modern English (not Brit) to those who have a learning   
    RW>>  problem.   
      
    AH>             Uh-huh.  She lives in the States, her students live in   
    AH> the States, therefore she teaches USAian English.  So far we are on   
    AH> the same page....  :-)   
      
   Well, there is a difference between California English and Texas English.   
   More like a regional thing, like east coast English and west coast   
   English.   
      
   She was educated in San Diego and so the English spoken there is quite   
   different from the English spoken here in Texas.   
      
    RW>>  She has always said that commas are something to use to   
    RW>>  indicate a pause in text.   
      
    AH>             That's a "rule of thumb" Canadian teachers use too.  And   
    AH> as I told my junior high school students, we also use various other   
    AH> punctuation marks to indicate longer pauses and/or changes in vocal   
    AH> pitch.   
      
   True.   
      
    AH>             Here is an example which went over like a lead balloon in   
    AH> my grade eight classes because the kids couldn't hear the difference:   
      
    AH>                   Who do you think you are, anyway?   
      
    AH>                   Who do you think you are -- Anyway?   
      
    AH> I don't blame Nancy, you see, if she doesn't try it with her   
    AH> students.... ;-)   
      
   She may, but her's is as a specialist in teaching those who're handicapped   
   in the use of the language. The above would go over their heads and all   
   you would get is a blank look on their faces.   
      
      
            R\%/itt - K5RXT   
      
    On Ward's exalted throne, he is still seated on nothing but his big arse.   
      
      
      
   --- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012   
   --- D'Bridge 3.98   
    * Origin: South-Texas Area Hub - Gulf Coast Backbone (1:387/22)