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The purpose of punctuation is to elucidate and disambiguate the shift - from

Posted: May 27th, 2017 - 6:41 am In Reply to: When QA is wrong - and "incorrects" your work

There is a vast difference between the spoken word and a mere string of text, no matter how accurately the words themselves are translated from the one format to the other.

If you are present when I say "The patient said her mother was insane" you have the benefit of verbal cues that differentiate between two very different meanings OF THE SAME STRING OF WORDS:

The patient said her mother was insane.

The patient, said her mother, was insane.

In such cases, punctuation (here, commas that represent verbal pauses which elucidate the meaning) is obviously important.

A great deal of punctuation, however, IS extraneous and subjective. Even Oxford University has finally recognized this fact, reducing most of its rules about commas to "verbal pauses that elucidate meaning." In other words, if a verbal pause is critical to meaning, insert a comma. Otherwise, don't.

QA doesn't seem to know the difference. What's even worse, I'm seeing evidence that there are people in QA who don't even understand the most fundamental principles of punctuation in the first place! I connected two independent but related clauses with a semicolon and was advised this was wrong.

"The lesion was biopsied; it was benign on frozen section."

I was told that I should have made those separate sentences because "you only use semicolons when they are not complete sentences."

Really? Not only is that a complete misstatement of the use of semicolons (semicolons ARE used to connect independent but related clauses that would otherwise be complete sentences), but in fact, it was precisely my use of the semicolon that clarified what was meant by "it" - which is why I used it!!

Neither I nor most other MTs require ignorant lessons - much less penalties - in matters of punctuation, especially from a bunch of idiots in QA who apparently slept through English grammar in grade school and who were never properly vetted in their knowledge of grammar in order to qualify for the jobs they hold.

Of course, this only adds to the innumerable other frustrations in this job and among the many reasons that so people are looking for the exit.

I'm sick of people who have far less experience and knowledge of the job than I do telling me how it should be done. The kind of people who apply for QA jobs are usually precisely the sort of people who ought not to be given such jobs - and frankly I think it requires at least 20 years of experience to know how to do the job properly. At least, I've not met anyone with less experience who didn't make a pig's breakfast out of it.



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