Re: leading into a list

Subject: Re: leading into a list
From: Dick Margulis <margulisd -at- comcast -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 02 Sep 2004 21:44:38 -0400




T.W. Smith wrote:

I agree with what you say, but must note that none of your examples
include what is being asked about, a comma at the end of the text that
introduces the list. Are you supporting the idea that the following is
at equally acceptable, or are you implying it is less so:

The house is:

[snip to break up the quoted text and avoid the wrath of bot]


More than that, it's steps, too.

To install the widget:

1) Do this.
2) Do that.
3) Do t'other.



The punctuation in the step or bullet item itself is not the
question--parallelism rules! Oy!--the question is the text that
introduces the list of steps or bullets, colon or no? The Heading
cop-out is a red herring.


Actually, I did address it. When I play ruler of the universe, I use a colon _only_ when the last two words of the intro are "the following" (a phrase I do my best to avoid); otherwise I do not use a colon. In marcomm, when working in a telgraphic style, I sometimes use an ellipsis, but I can't think of any circumstance when that would be appropriate in tech comm.

So, to answer you more directly, no, I don't use a colon, comma, or any other punctuation between a sentence fragment and a list. I use a period if the lead-in is a complete sentence and the list is grammatically independent of it. I'm a fan of single marking.

That said, I do not, in fact, rule the universe; and it is perfectly all right with me if some other editor, working for a different company, establishes a different house style. I just wanted to sketch out the range of styles that I see in contemporary work and mention the few hard and fast rules that cut across styles.


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Follow-Ups:

References:
RE: leading into a list: From: John Wilcox
Re: leading into a list: From: Dick Margulis
Re: leading into a list: From: T.W. Smith

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