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Forum locked This topic is locked, you cannot edit posts or make further replies.  [ 5 posts ] 
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 Post subject: Adding commas
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 5:45 pm 
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Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2003 1:01 am
Posts: 281
Location: Dallas
Am I wrong to want to add a comma after contractor here? <p>"Boeing, the second-largest Pentagon contractor after Lockheed Martin Corp...."<p>Boeing is the largest Pentagon contractor after Lockheed, the second-largest in all. But if Boeing were the second-largest after Lockheed, there would be someone in between, right?


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 Post subject: Re: Adding commas
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 6:12 pm 
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Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 1:01 am
Posts: 3557
Location: Cusp of retirement, grave or both
Well, I'd say you don't want that comma, which to my reading would make it look like an independent clause.<p>Better yet, I'd rewrite what appears to be cranking up as a ponderous and bad sentence.


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 Post subject: Re: Adding commas
PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:53 pm 
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Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 138
Location: Washington, D.C.
You are correct to want the comma. It's the second-largest, after Lockeed. The second-largest after Lockheed is two spots behind Lockheed.


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 Post subject: Re: Adding commas
PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 2:30 am 
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Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2002 12:01 am
Posts: 138
But then you'd need more punctuation to get beyond the Lockheed Martin. Otherwise you'd have
"Boeing ... after Lockheed Martin Corp...."<p>Rewrite it as "Boeing, a top Pentagon contractor second only to Lockheed Martin Corp, ..." to avoid excessive commas.


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 Post subject: Re: Adding commas
PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 12:55 pm 
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Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2002 1:01 am
Posts: 8342
Location: Bethesda, Md.
My instinct would be to spike the whole damn thing, but the question was whether "after Lockheed Martin Corp." should be set off by commas, and the answer is "yes."


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