Monday, July 16, 2012

Comma Turmoil


In Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, a comma walks into the sentence three words before its cue.

"In all, the internal turmoil particles within the cloud pick up electrical charges."

I did a Google search for the phrase "internal turmoil particles," and learned that in the Special Illustrated Edition of Mr. Bryson's book, the sentence has been corrected.

"In all the internal turmoil, particles within the cloud pick up electrical charges."

I prefer the uncorrected version. Internal turmoil particles must be the molecules that cause anxiety, confusion and indecisiveness. If internal turmoil particles are indeed picking up electrical charges, we might be able to deflect them with magnetic fields. Perhaps those folks who have strapped magnets to their wrists and their pipes to ward off arthritis and lime scale will actually receive the benefit of inner peace.