Can a comma be worth $10 million? Yes.
Over the years, I’ve been teased about being the “Comma Queen.” That’s because of my belief that a little comma can REALLY make a difference. And a judge has sided with me.
I won’t paraphrase the story. I’ll just start it here and let you go to http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/court-decision-dairy-drivers-lawsuit-hung-comma-46204469 to read the whole thing, titled “Lack of comma sense ignites debate after ruling in $10M suit.”
Here’s the beginning of the story:
It all came down to a missing comma, and not just any one. And it’s reignited a longstanding debate over whether the punctuation is necessary.
A federal appeals court decided this week to keep alive a lawsuit by dairy drivers seeking more than $10 million in an overtime pay dispute.
It concerned Maine’s overtime law, which doesn’t apply to the “canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of” foods.
Ooh, I love this!! It’s like the Eat Shoots and Leaves, where does the comma go?!
I wonder if my high school English students heard that a single comma could earn them $10 million, would they have listened to me more? Nah…..