Hyphens succumb to the internet-age, oops I mean internet age

[matclone]

The OED has eliminated 16,000 hyphens.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070921/...ain_hyphen1_dc

LONDON (Reuters) - About 16,000 words have succumbed to pressures of the Internet age and lost their hyphens in a new edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

Bumble-bee is now bumblebee, ice-cream is ice cream and pot-belly is pot belly.

And if you've got a problem, don't be such a crybaby (formerly cry-baby).

[bluestater]

As a grammar geek this saddens me, but it does not make me nearly as sad as the misuse of commas and exclamation points. (Cough Craig Sesker cough cough)

[matclone]

Generally speaking, do you like commas, or do you think they're overused? (you can probably tell what I think).

[bluestater]

Generally speaking, do you like commas, or do you think they're overused? (you can probably tell what I think).

I like commas when they are used properly. What, truly annoys me, is a comma thrown in the, middle, of a sentence.

[matclone]

I do that sometimes by accident, but I know what you mean.

[Spider]

Then there's the misunderstood semicolon; it doesn't see much action these days.

[_SL_]

Well if we have grammer geeks... can someone please tell me when to use "that" and "which"? I tried remembering "by the way" can always come after which, but i still question my usage sometimes.

[Spider]

Which is always preceeded by a comma, that is not.

The guillotine is my favorite move, which never fails to get me a pin.

The guillotine is the move that never fails to get me a pin.

(this answer is just off the top of my head; I'm sure bluestsater can give a more definitive response)

[bluestater]

The comma thing is the main thing I keep in mind, so I looked up the exact rules:

http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/whoVwhVt.asp

Who vs. Which vs. That


Rule 1 Who refers to people. That and which refer to groups or things.
Examples Anya is the one who rescued the bird
Lokua is on the team that won first place
She belongs to an organization that specializes in saving endangered species.

Rule 2 That introduces essential clauses while which introduces nonessential clauses.
Examples I do not trust editorials that claim racial differences in intelligence.
We would not know which editorials were being discussed without the that clause.
The editorial claiming racial differences in intelligence, which appeared in the Sunday newspaper, upset me.
The editorial is already identified. Therefore, which begins a nonessential clause.
NOTE Essential clauses do not have commas surrounding them while nonessential clauses do contain commas.

Rule 3 If this, that, these, or those has already introduced an essential clause, use which to introduce the next clause, whether it is essential or nonessential.
Examples That is a decision which you must live with for the rest of your life.
Those ideas, which we've discussed thoroughly enough, do not need to be addressed again.
NOTE Often, you can streamline your sentence by leaving out which.
Example Those ideas, which we have discussed thoroughly, do not need to be addressed again.
Better The ideas we have discussed thoroughly do not need to be addressed again.
Example That is a decision which you must live with for the rest of your life.
Better

That is a decision you must live with for the rest of your life.

or

You must live with that decision for the rest of your life.

I also try to avoid superfluous "thats."