[Balin] A medically-induced comma

[Balin]

He omitted a comma. She called the police. Why?

[GalFisk]

A comma in a sentence? A programming language? A decimal point? Did she call to report an emergency? Crime? Just to chat? Did she call the police on him? Herself? Someone else?

[Balin]

A comma in a sentence? This A programming language? A decimal point?
Did she call to report an emergency? This Crime? Just to chat?
Did she call the police on him? This, svv of "on" Herself? Someone else?

[WiZ]

Did he announce, 'Let's eat Grandma'?

If not, is it relevant the capacity in which he ommitted the comma? Was this some form of formal writing? Was he a journalist? Publisher? Did he work in government or civil defense? Is it relevant where she was the writing?

Did the omission of a comma make an innocuous sentence suddenly sound dangerous?

[Doriana]

WAG: Was he a student and she his teacher? Did the missing comma made a sentence sound like he was abused / in danger at home?

[Balin]

Did he announce, 'Let's eat Grandma'? No

If not, is it relevant the capacity in which he ommitted the comma? Yes Was this some form of formal writing? No Was he a journalist? Publisher? Did he work in government or civil defense? Neither Is it relevant where she was the writing? At the time of the writing? Yes, to an extent

Did the omission of a comma make an innocuous sentence suddenly sound dangerous? No

WAG: Was he a student and she his teacher? No Did the missing comma made a sentence sound like he was abused / in danger at home? No

[WiZ]

I'm not even sure what question I intended to ask with that last one, but I'll take your answer.

Is the medium of the writing relevant? If so, is it on paper? On a computer? In the sand? In the sky? Chiselled on a tablet or stele? Iced on a cake? Tattooed on? Traced lovingly onto the skin with a fingertip? Morse code? Smoke signals? Branded on cattle? Cut with a laser on a grain of rice? Carefully arranged with Alphabetti Spaghetti?

[Balin]

Is the medium of the writing relevant? Yes If so, is it on paper? On a computer? In the sand? In the sky? Chiselled on a tablet or stele? Iced on a cake? Tattooed on? Traced lovingly onto the skin with a fingertip? Morse code? Smoke signals? Branded on cattle? Cut with a laser on a grain of rice? Carefully arranged with Alphabetti Spaghetti? Impressive list, but No to all

[WiZ]

Monogrammed into clothing? Etched into a plaque? Shaved into someone's hair? Embossed on metal or plastic as a serial number? Punched out of a stencil or mold? Spraypainted on a wall or building? Signed on an artwork? Written with chalk on a blackboard? Whiteboard markers on a whiteboard? Scratched into a tree trunk with a knife? Splashed out on a tile floor in the very own blood of a murder victim? Printed on a 1980s-style labelmaker? Written in the LCD display of a calculator? Cut out of a hedge using topiary?

Is the writing, whatever form it might take, in English, using the Latin alphabet?

[Balin]

Monogrammed into clothing? Etched into a plaque? Shaved into someone's hair? Embossed on metal or plastic as a serial number? Punched out of a stencil or mold? Spraypainted on a wall or building? Signed on an artwork? Written with chalk on a blackboard? Whiteboard markers on a whiteboard? Scratched into a tree trunk with a knife? Splashed out on a tile floor in the very own blood of a murder victim? Printed on a 1980s-style labelmaker? Written in the LCD display of a calculator? Cut out of a hedge using topiary? Even more impressive a list! Still No to all.

Is the writing, whatever form it might take, in English, using the Latin alphabet? Yes

[WiZ]

Written in yellow in the snow? Lit up in a series of lights, perhaps on a sign? Stamped on the side of a crate? Painted on a street sign? Painted on a street? Woven into a tapestry? Taking the form of those cheap plastic things you stick into the top of a birthday cake? Etched with dazzling clarity into the mind's eye? Manifesting as the subtitles on a film or television show? Written in gold leaf on an old piece of parchment? Beautifully calligraphed on an old goatskin land title or university degree? Forming the text of a speech bubble of a cardboard cut-out of an actor at a video store before the internet killed the medium? Inadvertently spelled out in jam that was haphazardly dripped on a slice of bread, which subsequently sold for hundreds on eBay and drove the conspiracy theorists nuts?

[Balin]

Written in yellow in the snow? Lit up in a series of lights, perhaps on a sign? Stamped on the side of a crate? Painted on a street sign? Painted on a street? Woven into a tapestry? Taking the form of those cheap plastic things you stick into the top of a birthday cake? Etched with dazzling clarity into the mind's eye? Manifesting as the subtitles on a film or television show? Written in gold leaf on an old piece of parchment? Beautifully calligraphed on an old goatskin land title or university degree? Forming the text of a speech bubble of a cardboard cut-out of an actor at a video store before the internet killed the medium? Inadvertently spelled out in jam that was haphazardly dripped on a slice of bread, which subsequently sold for hundreds on eBay and drove the conspiracy theorists nuts? Your ability to come up with manners of making a message visible via writing is impressive. Still Nos across the board.

[WiZ]

(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

To try a different tack: Was the writing intended to be read by a range of people? Was the message intended for the person who called the police? Did the omission of the comma change the meaning of the sentence in any relevant sense? Was the sentence ambiguous at the best of times? Did the writer put something (a letter, symbol or otherwise) in the sentence in lieu of the comma?

Was the police-caller justified in their call? Did the absence of the comma indicate that there was indeed some manner of emergency?

[Balin]

(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
┬━┬ ノ( ゜-゜ノ)

To try a different tack: Was the writing intended to be read by a range of people? No Was the message intended for the person who called the police? Yes Did the omission of the comma change the meaning of the sentence in any relevant sense? Yes Was the sentence ambiguous at the best of times? See previous Did the writer put something (a letter, symbol or otherwise) in the sentence in lieu of the comma? No

Was the police-caller justified in their call? The caller believed so, but in the end the call was unnecessary Did the absence of the comma indicate that there was indeed some manner of emergency? No

[hoodie]

Sent as a text message?

DId she call the police because she believed a crime was committed? About to be committed? Did she believe someone (or some living thing) needed help?

Did she call the police to report something? Or did she just want to reach a particular individual who worked at the police station?

[Balin]

Sent as a text message? Yes

DId she call the police because she believed a crime was committed? About to be committed? Neither Did she believe someone (or some living thing) needed help? Yes

Did she call the police to report something? Yes Or did she just want to reach a particular individual who worked at the police station? No

[hoodie]

Was it an oxford comma? A comma in a list of things? A comma used to separate two clauses in a compound sentence? Would the comma precede the word "and"?

Was the omission a mistake on his part? Did it lead her to believe he needed help while in a vehicle? While outdoors? Location relevant?

[Balin]

Was it an oxford comma? No A comma in a list of things? No A comma used to separate two clauses in a compound sentence? Yes Would the comma precede the word "and"? No

Was the omission a mistake on his part? Yes Did it lead her to believe he needed help while in a vehicle? No While outdoors? Yes Location relevant? An aspect of the location, Yes

[WiZ]

Did the omission lead her to believe that he was: Lost? Injured? In a hazardous environment (fire, quicksand, floods, rivers)? At risk from another person or animal?

[Balin]

Did the omission lead her to believe that he was: Lost? This Injured? In a hazardous environment (fire, quicksand, floods, rivers)? At risk from another person or animal?

[hoodie]

If the conjunction that joins the two clauses in the compound sentence is not "and", is it:

for?
nor?
but?
or?
yet?
so?

[Balin]

If the conjunction that joins the two clauses in the compound sentence is not "and", is it:

for?
nor?
but?
or?
yet?
so?
FA - there is no conjunction - so no to all

[WiZ]

Would it help to work out the original intent of the message? If so, was it just checking in/saying hi? Was it a request? Was the sender giving an update on where he was, how he was feeling, what the weather was like, what he saw etc?

Is he in the great outdoors? In the streets? In a park or other public place?

Does the recipient believe he has become lost in a general sense (i.e. he is in a place where he has lost his bearings and doesn't know how to re-orient himself), or that some event has been triggered that has caused him to be transported to an unfamiliar place?

[Balin]

Would it help to work out the original intent of the message? Yes If so, was it just checking in/saying hi? No Was it a request? Noish Was the sender giving an update on where he was, Yes, plus the "Noish" in the previous. No to rest how he was feeling, what the weather was like, what he saw etc?

Is he in the great outdoors? In the streets? This In a park or other public place?

Does the recipient believe he has become lost in a general sense This (i.e. he is in a place where he has lost his bearings and doesn't know how to re-orient himself), Though I wouldn't say this - more like "she can't find him" than "he's lost" or that some event has been triggered that has caused him to be transported to an unfamiliar place?

[WiZ]

So, are they trying to find each other? Is he giving his location? In terms of street names/numbers? In terms of GPS coordinates? In terms of x blocks north, y blocks east?

[Balin]

So, are they trying to find each other? No Is he giving his location? Yope In terms of street names/numbers? In terms of GPS coordinates? In terms of x blocks north, y blocks east? None of these

[hoodie]

Is his message to her a reply to an inquiry that she made?

Is he basically letting her know his status? Where he's at? What he is doing?

Is their relationship relevant? Their relative ages?

So his reply makes her think he is in a place other than where she expects him to be, but it does NOT lead her to believe that he feels lost and is asking for help, correct?

[Balin]

Is his message to her a reply to an inquiry that she made? No

Is he basically letting her know his status? Yope Where he's at? Yesish What he is doing? Yes

Is their relationship relevant? To an extent. This is BOATS and the two people are father and daughter, so go with that Their relative ages? See prev

So his reply makes her think he is in a place other than where she expects him to be, but it does NOT lead her to believe that he feels lost and is asking for help, correct? That is not quite correct. Second part's right, but not the first

[hoodie]

So getting back to the grammar, you confirmed it is a compound sentence, which (as far as I know) is always two independent clauses, joined with a conjunction. And yet, there is no conjunction. So is it safe for me to assume that this is informal chat speak? So for example, instead of writing "I went to the amusement park, and I rode a roller coaster", I could text "I went to the amusement park, rode a roller coaster".

Is that in the right ballpark?

[Balin]

So getting back to the grammar, you confirmed it is a compound sentence, which (as far as I know) is always two independent clauses, joined with a conjunction. And yet, there is no conjunction. So is it safe for me to assume that this is informal chat speak? So for example, instead of writing "I went to the amusement park, and I rode a roller coaster", I could text "I went to the amusement park, rode a roller coaster".

Is that in the right ballpark? Very much so - that's the type of grammatical/chat structure used

[Balin]

RECAP:
He omitted a comma between two clauses in a text message. She thought he was lost and called the police.

HINT:
"She thought he was lost" is not on the lines of "she thought he didn't know where he was," but rather she didn't know where he was.

[trebor]

Is the weather relevant? Are there other people around? Is the age of the daughter relevant? Are they out somewhere together for fun? To run errands? Are they out on a walk? Out skating? Participating in exercise? Are they attending an event? Are they at a fair? Are they somewhere where there might be lineups?

[wunderland]

Are they on the same property? In the same neighborhood? The same town/city?

Is there a relevant reason why she called the police rather than ask him where he was?

[Balin]

Is the weather relevant? No Are there other people around? Assume No Is the age of the daughter relevant? No
Are they out somewhere together for fun? To run errands? This, No to rest Are they out on a walk? Out skating? Participating in exercise? Are they attending an event? Are they at a fair? Are they somewhere where there might be lineups?

Are they on the same property? When? In the same neighborhood? Yope The same town/city? Yes

Is there a relevant reason why she called the police rather than ask him where he was? Yes

[wunderland]

Did she not ask him where he was because: she thought he would be unable to give a useful answer? she thought he would choose not to? she thought the situation was too urgent to delay calling the police?

Are they on the same property? When? - when he sends the text message? when she reads it? (is there a relevant delay between these two events?)
Do they live in the same building? Does he intend the message to say (in part?) that he's on his way home?

[Balin]

Did she not ask him where he was because: she thought he would be unable to give a useful answer? she thought he would choose not to? she thought the situation was too urgent to delay calling the police? None of these. (Perhaps I misled - she did ask where he was, but got no response. Whether this is because his phone was off, his phone's battery had died, or he simply didn't notice the texts is irrel.)

Are they on the same property? When? - when he sends the text message? when she reads it? Yes to both (is there a relevant delay between these two events?) No
Do they live in the same building? Yes Does he intend the message to say (in part?) that he's on his way home? Yes

[JenBurdoo]

Did she not know where he was in a more general sense - ie: outside or inside? Urban or rural? On public or private property? Which of a range of locations he was in? Weather relevant?

Is the time between his message and her calling in the police relevant? For example, did she mistake a recent message for an old one and fear he had been out of contact longer than he had?

Had he included the comma correctly, would she have been: Pleased? Concerned? Reassured? Clear on his location?

Did she ask the police to find him? If so, was she able to direct them to a specific area?

[Balin]

Did she not know where he was in a more general sense - ie: outside or inside? Urban or rural? On public or private property? Which of a range of locations he was in? This
Weather relevant? No

Is the time between his message and her calling in the police relevant? Yes (it wasn't long, but not instant - say 20 minutes) For example, did she mistake a recent message for an old one and fear he had been out of contact longer than he had? No

Had he included the comma correctly, would she have been: Pleased? Concerned? Reassured? Clear on his location? This, most relevantly

Did she ask the police to find him? Yes If so, was she able to direct them to a specific area? No

[JenBurdoo]

Is there a reason she didn't text him back and ask him to clarify his own text? His phone dying? Hers? Was it apparent from his comma that he could not answer her?

[Balin]

Is there a reason she didn't text him back and ask him to clarify his own text? Yes His phone dying? Hers? Neither, though note my parenthetical two answer sets above Was it apparent from his comma that he could not answer her? No

[trebor]

Did the clause after the comma actually get included in his text? Did the comma end the message, making it look like he had more to say?

Are they both out running errands? Are they running separate errands? Is she at home? Does she start the puzzle away from home, drive home (the twenty minutes), then call the police?

[Balin]

Did the clause after the comma actually get included in his text? Yes Did the comma end the message, making it look like he had more to say? No, and FA - remember, his text left out the comma

Are they both out running errands? Yes, one errand Are they running separate errands? No Is she at home? No Does she start the puzzle away from home, drive home (the twenty minutes), then call the police? No

[trebor]

So texts her to tell her he’s on his way home when they’re both out running the same errand? Had they gone in the same vehicle to do the errand? Had they left their home in a vehicle at all?

Does it matter what the errand is? If so, getting groceries? Clothes shopping? Other shopping? Gassing up the car? Getting something for home repairs? Something related to school? To work?

[Balin]

So texts her to tell her he’s on his way home when they’re both out running the same errand? Yes Had they gone in the same vehicle to do the errand? Yes Had they left their home in a vehicle at all? Yes

Does it matter what the errand is? No If so, getting groceries? Clothes shopping? Other shopping? Gassing up the car? Getting something for home repairs? Something related to school? To work? It was an errand at their church. Exact errand is irrel, and that it's at a church is irrel.

[Balin]

RECAP:
The two of them were running an errand at a location near their home. He texted her to tell her he was on his way home, but omitted a comma between two clauses in the text message. About 20 minutes later, she called the police because she did not know where he was.

HINT:
The exact content of the text is important. It was a short message.

[hoodie]

Is the first clause intended to convey that he is heading home?
Is the second clause intended to convey where he is currently?
If not, is it the inverse of this? (flip first and second clause)?

So a specific example of what I am driving at is that he could say something like "I am heading back to the house, at Riverdale and Main", which conveys that he is currently at Riverdale and Main. But if he leaves out the comma, it reads "I am heading back to the house at Riverdale and Main", which is misleading. Is it something like that?

[Balin]

Is the first clause intended to convey that he is heading home? No
Is the second clause intended to convey where he is currently? No
If not, is it the inverse of this? (flip first and second clause)? No/Yes (the second clause conveys he's on his way home, the first does not refer to any location)

So a specific example of what I am driving at is that he could say something like "I am heading back to the house, at Riverdale and Main", which conveys that he is currently at Riverdale and Main. But if he leaves out the comma, it reads "I am heading back to the house at Riverdale and Main", which is misleading. Is it something like that? Not exactly; see above

[Doriana]

Did the first clause convey that he was done with the errand? Was it just the word "done"? Or "finished"?

[trebor]

Does it matter how he was going home? Walking/bus/cab/Uber/bike/the same car they came in?

Did he use text lingo? omw? lol? cu? Did he say "Done walking home", and then she drove home and he wasn't there? Something similar?

Was she as confused as I am about why he would be going home and she wouldn't be if they were running the errand together? Was he, in fact, on his way home? Was he playing a joke on her? Had he forgotten that they'd driven there together?

[Balin]

Did the first clause convey that he was done with the errand? No Was it just the word "done"? Or "finished"? Neither

Does it matter how he was going home? It will help with context Walking/bus/cab/Uber/bike/the same car they came in? Walking

Did he use text lingo? No omw? lol? cu? Did he say "Done walking home", and then she drove home and he wasn't there? No, but that's a great guess Something similar? Yes

Was she as confused as I am about why he would be going home and she wouldn't be if they were running the errand together? It was a nice night and he felt like walking. It wasn't a long walkWas he, in fact, on his way home? Yes Was he playing a joke on her? No Had he forgotten that they'd driven there together? No

[trebor]

Did his text contain the word “walking”? Was the whole message less than ten words? Was it two words long? Three? Etc.? (If that question is allowed.)

[Balin]

Did his text contain the word “walking”? No Was the whole message less than ten words? Yes Was it two words long? Three? Etc.? (If that question is allowed.) Five

[trebor]

Does it matter what the errand was they were running?

[Balin]

Does it matter what the errand was they were running? No

[hoodie]

"Got picked up heading home"?

Is the first clause supposed to convey something that happened before he started heading home? Something that happened while he was heading home?

[Balin]

"Got picked up heading home"? No, but the last two words (the second clause) are "heading home"

Is the first clause supposed to convey something that happened before he started heading home? No Something that happened while he was heading home? No

[Mimino]

So they left home together? but returned separately? because he decided to walk and she took the car?
Was she at home when she called the police? did his message imply that he will soon arrive at home? which he didn't?
Was he heading straight home? after he sent the message? before?

[Balin]

So they left home together? but returned separately? because he decided to walk and she took the car? Right on all counts
Was she at home when she called the police? No did his message imply that he will soon arrive at home? Yes which he didn't? svv of "soon" - it was a 30-ish minute walk
Was he heading straight home? Yes after he sent the message? Assume he sent the message as he started walking home before?

[Mimino]

Did she understand his message as if he was not heading home straightly? that he was unable to do so? that he lost the way? that he was heading somewhere else? Did the message imply that he "lost heading"?

[Balin]

Did she understand his message as if he was not heading home straightly? Yes that he was unable to do so? that he lost the way? that he was heading somewhere else? No to rest Did the message imply that he "lost heading"? No

[Sundowner]

Did the message say "[word] [word] not heading home"?

[trebor]

Did she think he was going somewhere else?

[Balin]

Did the message say "[word] [word] not heading home"? No

Did she think he was going somewhere else? No, a bit of an FA here

[Mimino]

Did his message say to her simply that he is not going home? but not what he is doing instead?
Does the comma have to be right before "heading home", thus "[word] [word] [word], heading home"?

[Balin]

Did his message say to her simply that he is not going home? No but not what he is doing instead? No
Does the comma have to be right before "heading home", thus "[word] [word] [word], heading home"? Yes

[GalFisk]

Is the message interpreted as a response to something? Just as information? Without the comma, does she think: he's not heading home? He doesn't know how to head home? He's not heading home yet? He's heading somewhere else? He doesn't know where he's heading? He's not going anywhere?

[Balin]

Is the message interpreted as a response to something? No Just as information? I'll say No
Without the comma, does she think: he's not heading home? Yes He doesn't know how to head home? He's not heading home yet? and Yes He's heading somewhere else? He doesn't know where he's heading? He's not going anywhere? and Yes

[trebor]

Had she sent him a text that encouraged his text in response? Had he sent his text as a response to her, but she didn't interpret it as such? Was he just texting her, out of the blue, to let her know he was on his way?

There is an aspect of his location that is relevant, right? Is this pertaining to a location on his way home? Something about a location on the church grounds? Did his text [intentionally? unintentionally?] reference this location? Did it reference another location that was not on his way home? By omission of the comma?

"Went to cemetery heading home"? Ha ha ha.

[Balin]

Had she sent him a text that encouraged his text in response? Had he sent his text as a response to her, but she didn't interpret it as such? Was he just texting her, out of the blue, to let her know he was on his way? This

There is an aspect of his location that is relevant, right? Not at this point, No; just that he was on his way home Is this pertaining to a location on his way home? Something about a location on the church grounds? Did his text [intentionally? unintentionally?] reference this location? Did it reference another location that was not on his way home? By omission of the comma?

"Went to cemetery heading home"? Ha ha ha. I like it! It's not the answer though.

[GalFisk]

"I am not heading home"? "I am done heading home"?

[Balin]

"I am not heading home"? "I am done heading home"? Neither

[trebor]

Recapping: his message implied that he was heading home? Which he was? But she thought it wouldn’t take him as long as it did?

Was one of the words of the message “I”? “Am?” “Now?”

[Balin]

Recapping: his message implied that he was heading home? No Which he was? Yes But she thought it wouldn’t take him as long as it did? No

Was one of the words of the message “I”? “Am?” “Now?” None of these

[trebor]

For clarity, from an earlier answer: did his message imply that he will soon arrive at home? Yes

Did he mean his message to imply that he would soon arrive at home?

[Balin]

For clarity, from an earlier answer: did his message imply that he will soon arrive at home? Yes Ah. I answered this question as she read it, but answered the others as he intended them. My apologies.

Did he mean his message to imply that he would soon arrive at home? No, but she (quite logically) read it that way

[Balin]

RECAP:
His message was five words: "____ ____ ____ heading home." The message was intended to inform her that he was heading home immediately (walking). He left out a comma before the words "heading home," and she interpreted that incorrectly, leading to a fear he'd gotten lost and the call to the police.

HINT:
She took the misinterpretation as an instruction and didn't think it was about his heading home at all.

[trebor]

Was one of the words "walking"? Or a synonym for walking?

Did she think he was instructing her to call the police? To head home herself? To go somewhere else? To do something? To return to where they'd gone? Did she try to carry out the instruction? Did she become alarmed after doing so?

Are the first three words meant to: convey something about his emotional state? Physical state? Mental state? The weather? Something he will be doing? Check in with her? Thank her?

[Balin]

Was one of the words "walking"? Or a synonym for walking? No

Did she think he was instructing her to call the police? To head home herself? To go somewhere else? To do something? No to all, with an -ish to this To return to where they'd gone?
Did she try to carry out the instruction? Yes Did she become alarmed after doing so? Yes

Are the first three words meant to: convey something about his emotional state? Physical state? Mental state? The weather? Something he will be doing? Check in with her? Thank her? None of these

[Sundowner]

Did she think it was about her heading home?
Was the word before "heading home" something like "stop"?
(like in "Approaching bus stop heading home")

[wunderland]

Were the first three words meant as an instruction?
Were the first three words meant as a statement with an omitted subject? eg "have some tea" meaning "I have some tea" ... Is the first word "have"?
Is one of the missing words "wait"?
Did she interpret "heading home" as referring to when/where she should carry out the instruction?
Did she interpret the whole message as an instruction not to do something?
Did she succeed in carrying out the instruction?

[trebor]

Is one of the first three words "when"? If so, is it the third? Did she interpret the text as an instruction to contact him? To contact someone else?