Outre commas

Last week, Newsweek ran a great column by Robert J. Samuelson about the has-been status of the comma. Read it here, if you like. He digresses often into curmudgeonly angst over our multitasking lifestyle (who doesn't, these days?) with comments like this:

The comma is, after all, a small sign that flashes PAUSE. It tells the reader to slow down, think a bit, and then move on. We don't have time for that. No pauses allowed. In this sense, the comma's fading popularity is also social commentary.

My favorite part is near the end:

Over the years, copy editors have stripped thousands of defenseless commas from my stories. I have saved every last one of them and piled them all on a secluded corner of my desk. They deserve better than they're getting. So here are some of my discarded commas, taking a long-overdue bow: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.

What else is there to say, but, maybe, and, just for good measure,,,