1

Should I do this:

The developers are less experienced in, or passionate about, UX.

Or should I remove the last comma:

The developers are less experienced in, or passionate about UX.

This answer seems to imply that the latter form is best but I feel that the former reads better. Is this feeling mistaken?

Community
  • 1
Mark Silberbauer
  • 113
  • 1
    I would use the commas. I would also add the word less in front of the word passionate: The developers are less experienced in, or less passionate about, UX. – JLG Jul 22 '14 at 15:13
  • It does need some delimitation, but commas sound wrong. I'd use a dash: The developers are less experienced in – or passionate about – UX. Better still, repeat less before passionate to balance the comparative: The developers are less experienced in – or less passionate about – UX. It still sounds ugly with such a short word at the end, but it's parallel and clear. – John Lawler Jul 22 '14 at 16:41

1 Answers1

2

Definitely not the second one. Every authority I have to consult says both commas, or neither. I think it's fine in modern writing to leave them out.

But I question the "or" in the sentence. It's not describing an either-or proposition. It's a compound problem (they're bad in two ways), requiring "and."

The developers, unlike the technical writers, are less experienced in and less passionate about user interface design.

Avoid "UX" as jargon. Yes, I'm a technical writer.

user8356
  • 2,982