Shatner comma

English 2026 September 8 thumb|upright|The Canadian actor William Shatner as the character Captain James T. Kirk in the American television series Star Trek (1966–1969). Etymology en :af Shatner comma + 1 1, named after the Canadian actor William Shatner (born 1931), known for his dramatic pauses. The term was popularized by being featured on Urban Dictionary as the Urban Word of the Day for 20 December 2010.Maggie Walter The Curious Case of the Oxford Comma w:Columbia Missourian Columbia, Mo. Missourian Pub. Association 10 July 2011 103rd year 215 5A https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/1221413017/ 4 0747-1874 10632065 Another popular culture reference to commas comes from Urban Dictionary and its Urban Word of the Day for Dec. 20, 2010: Shatner commas. Pronunciation en /ˌʃætnə ˈkɒmə/ RP en /ˌʃætnəɹ ˈkɑmə/ GA en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Shatner comma.wav GA en ɒmə 4 en Shat ner com ma Noun en humorous A comma placed inappropriately between words, where no pause should occur in speech. from 2009 11 August 2009 Melmothulhu https://x.com/Melmothulhu/status/3242002898 The document that I'm reviewing has a terminal case of Shatner Comma. Not sure, if, that's a, valid comment though. May, have, to rephrase,. 30 June 2011 Adam Martin Oxford Comma’s Non-demise Brings Twitter Comma Creation Fest https://web.archive.org/web/20110703232930/http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2011/06/oxford-commas-non-demise-brings-twitter-comma-creation-fest/39470 But the real laughs, for us, came with the introduction of all sorts of new commas we had never heard of before: Obviously CMS fans wanted to rename the Oxford comma the Chicago comma, which is fine. But did you know about the Shatner comma? 30 June 2011 w:Carolyn Kellogg Goodbye, Oxford comma? Hello, Shatner comma! https://web.archive.org/web/20110701034648/http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/06/goodbye-oxford-comma-hello-shatner-comma.html The Shatner comma! That, is, you, know, a really, fantastic, idea. And the Shatner comma? It, does, nothing, but, put, pauses, where, they, do, not, belong. en 2012 October 4 (indicated as 2013) John Langan Four Bases for Revising Writing Exploring Writing: Paragraphs and Essays Connect Learn Succeed 3rd New York, N.Y. McGraw-Hill part 2 (Basic Principles of Effective Writing) 142 https://archive.org/details/exploringwriting0003lang/page/142/mode/1up 978-0-07-353333-9 As entertainment continues to influence the development of language, maybe one day "Shatner commas" and their odd, purposeless positions will become mainstream and the fear of overusing commas will be "refudiated," just "like, like Valley Girls." en 3 February 2013 w:Alexander Theroux The Grammar of Rock: Art and Artlessness in 20th Century Pop Lyrics Seattle, Wash. Fantagraphics Books 138–139 https://archive.org/details/grammarofrockart0000ther/page/138/mode/1up 978-1-60699-616-4 Robert Goulet struggled with language, wrapped it in hovering and irresolute self-interruptions. Every song he sang was a tractor-pull. In a way, he delivered a song the way John Wayne spoke, like a boar pisses—in jerks. It seems to be, but isn’t, a variation of the so-called "Shatner comma"—"You know, exactly, what, I mean"—the condition named after Star Trek actor who parses words out flit-like. en 12 November 2021 Axel Gearman Day One https://books.google.com/books?id=akZOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 Two Ways Out of Stockton [United States?] Axel Gearman 978-1-73799-065-9 "Thanks, for, coming, here." He spoke not with the Standard comma, the Oxford comma, the Walken comma, or the Shatner comma. No, this was something else. en 3 June 2025 w:Renée Ahdieh Firebreather https://books.google.com/books?id=YSUZEQAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 Park Avenuea Novel New York, N.Y. Flatiron Books 978-1-250-89796-1 Nate made mistakes, too. Just last week, she'd had to fix the Shatner commas in one of his briefs. Translations comma placed inappropriately between words, where no pause should occur in speech Finnish: fi turha pilkku French: fr virgule inutile f, fr virgule parasite f, fr virgule superflue f References Further reading William Shatner en eponyms en Punctuation marks