Kicker: Fixing commas

NICK EICHER, HOST: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is a professional diplomat. He’s using that power in a way that will thrill English majors and advocates for good grammar.  

Pompeo is vexed by the improper use of commas. So he wrote a memo to State Department staff. Fix those comma errors in department missives!  And do it now!

Don’t overuse commas or leave them out where needed! Adhere to The Chicago Manual of Style rules!

Pompeo included examples of the offensive staff writings.

But he gave no official guidance on the long-standing debate over Oxford commas.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

(Jung Yeon-je, Pool Photo via AP) U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, in South Korea, Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018.

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