(no subject)

[wickedflea]

Why do we put commas before quotations? I know it's the convention, but what's the reasoning behind it? That's always bothered me. The quotation essentially functions as an object of the verb, right? And we don't normally put commas between verbs and their objects, right? "He played, basketball." That just looks stupid. So why do we write, "Fred said, 'I played basketball.'"? It's goofy.

TELL ME WHY OMG

Comments

[wickedflea.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait--that's a different question, though I see that the way I phrased it was confusing. That answers why we put commas inside the quotes instead of outside, but I'm asking why we have the comma there at all. That is, why is it

Dewayne said, "Hocknoffer fleeginsnug."

instead of

Dewayne said "Hocknoffer fleeginsnug."

Sorry, I'm a nerd. =)

[girl-on-a-stick.livejournal.com]

Oooo! Sorry, totally misunderstood. *slaps head*
Well, now you know some random trivia! :P