How would you punctuate this short sentence?

Question

1. Thanks brother, greatly appreciated. (=comma splice)

2. Thanks, brother -- greatly appreciated.

3. Thanks, brother; greatly appreciated.

4. Thanks, brother. Greatly appreciated.

#1 is no good, but I believe #2, #3, and #4 are all correct in their own right. Agreed?

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

1. Thanks brother, greatly appreciated. (=comma splice) I wouldn't say this is completely wrong. Aftere all, the whole thing is a rather unstructured utterance in non-sentence form, so it doesn't seem necessary to be too strict about punctuation.

I'd add a comma after 'thanks'.

The term 'Thanks' is often added to a sentence,

eg Thanks, I appreciate it.

It's not considered a splice, because 'thanks' is not really thought of as a sentence.

2. Thanks, brother -- greatly appreciated. A lttle informal. But ,of course, it's an informal thing to say.

3. Thanks, brother; greatly appreciated. OK, but the use of a semi-colon seems to me a bit overly fussy for such a casual remark.

4. Thanks, brother. Greatly appreciated. Fine. Personally, I prefer this. It reflects the way I'd usually pause while saying this.

#1 is no good, but I believe #2, #3, and #4 are all correct in their own right.

Clive

How would you punctuate this short sentence?

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