If You Don't Know, Now You Know.

A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined by a comma with no conjunction. For example:

It is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.

It is usually considered an error, especially in American English, where it is condemned in The Elements of Style.

Simply removing the comma does not correct the error, but results in a run-on sentence. There are several acceptable ways to correct this:

* Change the comma to a semicolon:

It is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town before dark.

* Write the two clauses as two separate sentences:

It is nearly half past five. We cannot reach town before dark.

* Insert a coordinating conjunction following the comma:

It is nearly half past five, and we cannot reach town before dark.
It is nearly half past five, so we cannot reach town before dark.

* Make one clause dependent on the other:

As it is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.

Comma splices are sometimes acceptable when the clauses are short and alike in form, such as:

The gate swung apart, the bridge fell, the portcullis was drawn up.

(Examples adapted from the online 1918 edition of The Elements of Style.)

I'm just letting you know this so you won't be embarrassed, should someone ever ask you. Or, if, say, you apply to teach composition at a college and you get an email back that says "I have to tell you, I really loved your essay, despite the comma splices."
And, say, if you not only have comma splices, but you don't really even know what a comma splice is.
God help me.
I'm supposed to be in English.
The thing is, I don't have time for all the rules, people. Blah, blah, blah, add a conjuction, add a semi-colon. I've got stories to write!! I've got to write a story about a guy who has to burn a tick out of his son's skin! We're lighting matches and describing campsites and imagining tense relationships, and we sure as hell are not ruining our sentences with too many ands!!

Honestly, though, he was really nice and he said he'd forward my application to anyone he could think of that might be able to use me.
Splice that!