Is a comma required after "or" in the following sentence?
We greet people by saying aloha (italicized) or "love."
No. Do not use a comma in this sentence.
Oops, I meant before the word "or."
In this case, no comma is required after "or" in the sentence "We greet people by saying aloha (italicized) or 'love.'"
The general rule is that a comma is not needed after "or" when it is used to connect two items or choices. However, there are some situations where a comma might be necessary for clarity or to avoid ambiguity.
In this specific sentence, the absence of a comma helps to distinguish between the two options: "aloha (italicized)" is one option, and "'love'" (in quotation marks) is the other. Adding a comma after "or" could create confusion because it may suggest that "aloha (italicized)" and "'love'" are two distinct choices.
Therefore, in this sentence, the lack of a comma after "or" is appropriate.