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2020-08-31 5394b87a30 2dbe3ea7a8 ffc61f865b 1d3ff89ecf b235936a1d 953c64e0f6 3fb67ac9c6 doc: add commas after 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'
* Add comma after e.g. and i.e.?
@ 2020-08-25 18:36 Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
0 siblings, 2 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Bruce Momjian @ 2020-08-25 18:36 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: pgsql-docs
We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.:
$ cd doc/src/sgml/
$ cat *.sgml */*.sgml | egrep -c '(e\.g\.|i\.e\.),'
255
$ cat *.sgml */*.sgml | egrep -c '(e\.g\.|i\.e\.)[^,:]'
87
I removed the colon because using a trailing colon is always valid in
context.
This summarizes the recommended behavior:
https://jakubmarian.com/comma-after-i-e-and-e-g/
In British English, “i.e.” and “e.g.” are not followed by a comma, so
the first example above would be:
They sell computer components, e.g. motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs.
Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” and
“e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were used
instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become:
So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these
styles?
--
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> https://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com
The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: Add comma after e.g. and i.e.?
@ 2020-08-25 19:03 Erik Rijkers <er@xs4all.nl>
parent: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
1 sibling, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Erik Rijkers @ 2020-08-25 19:03 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>; +Cc: pgsql-docs
On 2020-08-25 20:36, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.:
[..]
> Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.”
> and
> “e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were
> used
> instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become:
>
> So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these
> styles?
For what it's worth, I am in favor of that comma.
Erik Rijkers
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: Add comma after e.g. and i.e.?
@ 2020-08-25 19:10 Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
parent: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
1 sibling, 1 reply; 6+ messages in thread
From: Tom Lane @ 2020-08-25 19:10 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>; +Cc: pgsql-docs
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> writes:
> We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.:
> This summarizes the recommended behavior:
> https://jakubmarian.com/comma-after-i-e-and-e-g/
> In British English, “i.e.” and “e.g.” are not followed by a comma, so
> the first example above would be:
> They sell computer components, e.g. motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs.
> Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” and
> “e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were used
> instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become:
> So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these
> styles?
I think it's fairly pointless to try to enforce such a thing.
Even if you made the docs 100% consistent on the issue today,
they wouldn't stay that way for long, because nobody else is
really going to care about it.
(FWIW, I generally write a comma myself. But I'm not going
to cry about text that hasn't got one.)
regards, tom lane
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: Add comma after e.g. and i.e.?
@ 2020-08-27 02:38 Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
parent: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
0 siblings, 1 reply; 6+ messages in thread
From: Bruce Momjian @ 2020-08-27 02:38 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>; +Cc: pgsql-docs
On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 03:27:33PM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 03:10:44PM -0400, Tom Lane wrote:
> > Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> writes:
> > > We are inconsistently about adding a comma after e.g. and i.e.:
> >
> > > This summarizes the recommended behavior:
> > > https://jakubmarian.com/comma-after-i-e-and-e-g/
> > > In British English, “i.e.” and “e.g.” are not followed by a comma, so
> > > the first example above would be:
> > > They sell computer components, e.g. motherboards, graphic cards, CPUs.
> > > Virtually all American style guides recommend to follow both “i.e.” and
> > > “e.g.” with a comma (just like if “that is” and “for example” were used
> > > instead), so the very same sentence in American English would become:
> >
> > > So, what do we want to do? Leave it unchanged, or pick one of these
> > > styles?
> >
> > I think it's fairly pointless to try to enforce such a thing.
> > Even if you made the docs 100% consistent on the issue today,
> > they wouldn't stay that way for long, because nobody else is
> > really going to care about it.
> >
> > (FWIW, I generally write a comma myself. But I'm not going
> > to cry about text that hasn't got one.)
>
> I wasn't worried about enforcing going forward, but rather if we should
> make what we have now consistent.
I plan to move forward with this, and will backpatch it so later patches
are easier to apply. I think we are fine with adding inconsistent
usages over time --- this is probably only something we will address in
mass every 10 years or so.
--
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> https://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com
The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 6+ messages in thread
* Re: Add comma after e.g. and i.e.?
@ 2020-08-31 22:33 Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
parent: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
0 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Bruce Momjian @ 2020-08-31 22:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>; +Cc: pgsql-docs
On Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 10:38:30PM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 03:27:33PM -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > I wasn't worried about enforcing going forward, but rather if we should
> > make what we have now consistent.
>
> I plan to move forward with this, and will backpatch it so later patches
> are easier to apply. I think we are fine with adding inconsistent
> usages over time --- this is probably only something we will address in
> mass every 10 years or so.
Done.
--
Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us> https://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB https://enterprisedb.com
The usefulness of a cup is in its emptiness, Bruce Lee
^ permalink raw reply [nested|flat] 6+ messages in thread
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Thread overview: 6+ messages (download: mbox mbox.gz follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2020-08-25 18:36 Add comma after e.g. and i.e.? Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
2020-08-25 19:03 ` Erik Rijkers <er@xs4all.nl>
2020-08-25 19:10 ` Tom Lane <tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us>
2020-08-27 02:38 ` Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
2020-08-31 22:33 ` Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
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