From: dillseed Sent: Friday, May 16, 2014 8:49 AM To: The Chicago Manual of Style Subject: [ucp-cmos] Common Appositives Hello, Chicago, I reviewed the section on restrictive/ nonrestrictive appositives. In the following sentence, I have one wife, one son, and one daughter. Have I correctly used semicolons and commas based on your guidance? If not, how should it be punctuated (without recasting)? Please also note that I used a comma after Samantha instead of a semicolon, which I believe is correct: First Version: My wife, Ursula; my son, Andrew; and my daughter, Samantha, will attend the ceremonies. Or in this case would you support the less cluttered: Second Version: My wife Ursula, my son Andrew, and my daughter Samantha will attend the ceremonies. Thank you. Mike -------------- Chicago's reply: The first version is correct but ugly. The second version is easier to read. Save the semicolons for when it is important to clarify some precise meaning that is lost or distorted without them. All the best, Chicago Staff ---------- Chicago will use commas around the name of one wife, one sister, one brother, etc., but they will forgo those commas in a sentence like this: My wife Ursula, my son Andrew, and my daughter Samantha will attend the ceremonies. Instead of: My wife, Ursula, my son, Andrew, and my daughter, Samantha, will attend the ceremonies. But they support: My wife, Janice, retires on Friday. Interesting!
