overpunctuation

From over- +‎ punctuation.

overpunctuation (uncountable)

1. Excessive punctuation.
   • 1861, Scriba, “Punctuation.—Number IV.”, in The Illinois Teacher: Devoted to Education, Science, and Free Schools, volume VII, Peoria, Ill.: N. C. Nason, page 389:

     There is no need of the commas after vindictive and the four words subsequent; and so many needless points serve rather to confuse. Overpunctuation is a very common fault in our American books; the rules of Mandeville, Goold Brown, and Mulligan, as well as of Wilson’s Punctuation, do not tend to cure the evil, but rather to perpetuate it, since they lead the writer to put in a comma wherever, by rule, there may be a place for one, without inquiring into the necessity for it.

   • 1984, Stephen White, The Written Word, and Associated Digressions Concerned with the Writer as Craftsman, Harper & Row, →ISBN, pages 73 and 93:

     Under those circumstances, I felt obliged to use every device I could imagine to assist them in reading their lines, and sprinkled punctuation amid my prose like a glutton sugaring strawberries. It helped, and I tend to overpunctuate to this day. I practice overpunctuation, although I do not defend it. But the word processor, I believe, will in time change our perceptions of what constitutes overpunctuation.

   • 2003, Larry Newman, “International Proposals”, in Shipley Associates Proposal Guide for Business Development Professionals, 2nd edition, Shipley Associates, →ISBN, page 69:

     When in doubt, overpunctuate. Punctuation is important in all types of writing, but it is mandatory in international documents. Without punctuation, the probability of the evaluator getting lost increases dramatically. Overpunctuate international proposals, even though the trend is to under punctuate in domestic correspondence. The intent of punctuation is to add clarity, so make sure your overpunctuation is correct.

• underpunctuation

• overpunctuate