Meaning of Shatner comma | Babel Free

Definitions

A comma placed inappropriately between words, where no pause should occur in speech.

humorous

Examples

“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,.”

“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?”

“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⟳.”

“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.””

“[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.”

““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.”

“Nate made mistakes, too. Just last⟳ week, she’d had to fix⟳ the Shatner commas in one of his briefs.”

CEFR level