Not really! But sometimes it seems that way. Are commas really becoming optional?
- Hi Jack. Anything wrong with this? Yes; it should be Hi, Jack.
"Hi" is a greeting, just like "Hello" or "Yo" or "Good morning." And a comma is needed to separate the greeting from the person you're addressing. Otherwise, it just runs together nonsensically. The confusion may stem from letter writing, where a common salutation is something like "Dear Penelope," as in "My dear Penelope, I've missed you..." or whatever. In this case, "Dear" modifies Penelope; leaving out the comma is correct.
Here's another example:
Me: Carl bring us some tea please.
Carl: My sweet tea is served.
Did you have trouble following that? Commas to the rescue:
Me: Carl, bring us some tea, please.
Carl. My sweet, tea is served.
For more fun, grab a cool drink and read this classic and delightful essay on punctuation "
Notes on Punctuation," by Lewis Thomas.
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