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.   
      
      
               Yes... I'm reminded of the two French teachers I worked with years   
   ago who argued interminably over whether Parisian French or French-Canadian is   
   more "correct".  It seems to me that a lot depends on the circumstances.  :-))   
      
      
      
   RW>  My wife Nancy is a special education teacher, teaching   
   RW>  modern English (not Brit) to those who have a learning   
   RW>  problem.   
      
      
               Uh-huh.  She lives in the States, her students live in the States,   
   therefore she teaches USAian English.  So far we are on the same page....  :-)   
      
      
      
   RW>  She has always said that commas are something to use to   
   RW>  indicate a pause in text.   
      
      
               That's a "rule of thumb" Canadian teachers use too.  And as I told   
   my junior high school students, we also use various other punctuation marks to   
   indicate longer pauses and/or changes in vocal pitch.   
      
               Here is an example which went over like a lead balloon in my grade   
   eight classes because the kids couldn't hear the difference:   
      
                     Who do you think you are, anyway?   
      
                     Who do you think you are -- Anyway?   
      
   I don't blame Nancy, you see, if she doesn't try it with her students....  ;-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)