The Floating Comma

The comma is a punctuation mark which indicates the shortest pause. Despite there  being some simple rules for their use many writers tend to write long sentences with many commas in them. It's much better to use fewer commas, and write shorter, more direct sentences.

I won't bore you with all the rules. There are many places where you may find them. Just don't become like one writer whose articles resulted in him being called 'the comma man.'

I'd like to introduce you the 'floating'comma. To give you a clue I'll quote Mohamed Ali, "Float like a butterfly..."

The first comma butterfly I've ever seen in my garden floated from place to place before decided on a place to rest.

Comma butterfly on buddleia flower

It could not decide on where it should position itself and was confused by the number of  flowers to settle on.

Comma in a different place.

Eventually it changed it's mind and abandoned the buddleia altogether.

Comma on forsythia bush

This is one comma that I would be delighted to see at any time. If I had a lot of these I would be quite content to be called 'the comma man.'