That’s why I don’t really like it after the abbreviation. I do write it myself as “i.e.,” and “e.g.,” out of habit, but I hate the way it looks. I much prefer either “ie,” with no periods and a comma, or “i.e.” without a comma. I don’t think anything is really added with the comma, and commas don’t necessarily denote a spoken pause or not. For example, we put commas between two independent clauses (like in the previous sentence) out of convention, but we don’t necessarily pause between them in speaking. Conversely, we sometimes put pauses in our speech when using dependent clauses after a conjunction, but we omit the comma in writing. (For example, “I am going to the store and then to mom’s house.” In speaking, there may be a pause between the “store” and “and,” but that sentence is normally “properly” written without a comma.)
That scalpel/trowel image is excellent!
On the other hand, books from the 50s are almost unreadable? I don’t think so! Do you have any examples? Please quote or link a paragraph or so to show me.
I’m surprised nobody’s posted the Piper quote yet (almost a requirement for any thread about “proper” language usage).
“English is the product of a Saxon warrior trying to make a date with an Angle bar-maid, and as such is no more legitimate than any of the other products of that conversation.”
Not really; that’s just something lazy teachers tell small children. Pauses are indicated by dashes, not by commas. The function of a comma is to separate clauses, adverbs, parenthetical phrases, and a bunch of other things - none of which have to involve any pausing at all. You may choose to insert a pause, if you want to produce added emphasis or clarity, but that’s entirely subjective.
The function of a comma is to do anything that is necessary. Period. One of the most significant needs in writing is to add clarity in a sentence. You could write “to separate clauses adverbs parenthetical phrases and a bunch of other things” with or without commas because there’s no rule in grammar that tells you to do one or the other. The usage that called for commas evolved for clarity in exactly the same way that wordspacinghadtoevolveoriginally. A reader used to formal style, BTW, would read “to separate clauses, adverbs, parenthetical phrases, and a bunch of other things - none of which have to involve any pausing at all” and certainly tell you not to use a dash, but rather a comma. The increased use of dashes is a very recent development. No one would allow it when I went to college.
The use of commas as pauses to signal readers is a hoary tradition, OTOH. Commas were once used in far greater profusion in sentences. Look at just about any 18th or 19th century writing. It wasn’t until post WWI that writers tried to modernize the language by cutting down on the use of commas, semicolons, and colons. Again, this all falls under the heading of style, not grammar. There are no rules governing this.
The use of a comma after traditionally is indeed traditional. The intention of the sentence conveys a pause. I would consider the lack of a comma to be poor writing because it omits a necessity cue toward reading the sentence. Good writing supplies these cues wherever necessary. Dashes can be used today, but commas are still perfectly legitimate. If you want to remove both from a sentence you need to rewrite it so that the pause is obviated.
I propose the following edit to get this post back in line with OP:
“English is the product of a Saxon warrior trying to make a date with an Angle bar-maid,** i.e.** it is no more legitimate than any of the other products of that conversation.”
Piper could have made a foursome out of it by adding a Viking warrior and a French waitress. About 30% of the English vocabulary is French in origin. I have not been able to pin down a % for Norse derivations, but they include many core words such as bloom, bulk, bush, dirt, egg, flag, fog, gain, gate, and gravy: Standard English words which have a Scandinavian Etymology.