No Comma in “Big Bad Book Blog”?
By Erin NelsenThose of you who pride yourselves on attention to detail, fear not. The BBBB is well aware that there are no commas betwixt its big bad adjectives. But that’s not because we forgot them, ignored them, or decided we were too cool for proper punctuation.
Believe it or not, excluding commas from the title is not only aesthetically pleasing (per our big bad designers), but also correct and grammatically defensible. To explain why, may I introduce my friend The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition)? Chicago says:
When a noun is preceded by two or more adjectives that could, without affecting the meaning, be joined by and, the adjectives are normally separated by commas. But if the noun and the adjective immediately preceding it are conceived as a unit, such as “little girl,” “political science,” or “glass ceiling,” no comma should be used.
(6.39, 250)
A book blog forms a clear unit. So there’s no need for a comma between bad and book. But big and bad are still on trial. How do we prove that they too form a unit? A good test to determine whether adjectives require a comma is to reverse them. For instance, a little girl who is happy and playful could become a “happy, playful little girl” or a “playful, happy little girl” without any change in meaning. In the case of a big bad book blog, however, we could be left with bad big book blog instead. The meaning has changed—and bad blogs make us sad, regardless of their size. “Big bad” and “bad big” are not interchangeable. Therefore! The adjectives remain in place unpunctuated: a big bad book blog.
TIP: In the BBBB’s not-so-humble opinion, our friend Chicago has the most comprehensive, useful site for resolving editorial issues of all shapes and sizes. Visit her.
April 12th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
So glad that you posted the comma information, and in such a clear way. The Chicago Manual is excellent–the paragraph you posted is as pristine as the marriage vows.
Thank you.
April 13th, 2006 at 9:37 am
I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed your explanation of the comma! Your simple application of reversing the words was both humorous and memorable. I’ve never used The Chicago Manual, but will in the future.Thanks!
June 15th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
Ah, thank you for this piece! I have a comma missing from my title, HELLO REAL WORLD! I feel damned both ways because I really did violate the grammar rule. I consciously excluded it, but then I feel compelled to explain myself to people who know better (example: my high school English teacher, who graciously purchased a copy of my book!).
I succumbed to the ignorance of the masses. I figured that more people would be tripped up by seeing the comma there between the words “hello” and “real” than those would be annoyed by its absence.
Then again, perhaps my title isn’t meant to be so formal. HELLO REAL WORLD! is a book for students after all, and it somewhat models HELLO WORLD computer speak. Computers can’t appreciate commas, right? I can appreciate the question below. Only one friend and I are good about opening an email with “hi, [friend’s name],”.
From the Chicago Manual:
Q. I seem to be alone in my habit of including a comma in e-mail greetings that begin with a salutation (e.g., “Hi, Mom!”). Most people, perhaps inspired by the more formal “Dear Mom,” seem to think it should be without comma. What do you think?
A. You are right: in formal writing, direct address takes a comma before the person’s name. One could argue, however, that e-mails aren’t formal, and that there’s little harm in streamlining for the sake of efficiency—and I think I can speak for moms everywhere in saying that we’ll take whatever we get in this regard.
July 15th, 2006 at 2:20 am
I would argue that it’s simpler than that. From what I can tell, you’re not using the words ‘big’ and ‘bad’ in their normal sense, but in the ‘big bad scary monster’ sense where ‘big bad’ is, effectively, a single term making up a common turn of phrase.
Anyway, keep it up. I just stumbled across this blog today and it’s great.