From Oxford Dictionaries:
What is the 'Oxford comma'?Rumors fly around and about on the demise of the Oxford comma, but it appears that the wee mark has life, yet.
The 'Oxford comma' is an optional comma before the word 'and' at the end of a list:
We sell books, videos, and magazines.It's known as the Oxford comma because it was traditionally used by printers, readers, and editors at Oxford University Press. Not all writers and publishers use it, but it can clarify the meaning of a sentence when the items in a list are not single words:
These items are available in black and white, red and yellow, and blue and green.The Oxford comma is also known as the 'serial comma'.
From Linda Holmes on NPR:
For now, the Oxford comma lives on at Oxford. And it lives on in my heart. Life is nasty, brutish, and short (or, to introduce unnecessary ambiguity, "life is nasty, brutish and short"), and the least I can do for myself is to hold tight to the linguistic niceties about which I, for whatever reason, care. It's comforting. It's calming. And when it comes to taking a firm position about mostly unimportant debates, that's about all I can hope for.The Oxford comma lives on in my heart, too, and I will continue to place the mark in a series. Even if the comma dies, I will flog the poor creature for my personal use, so long as I live.
I use the serial comma regularly -- as it provides sufficient roughage to prevent an irritable colon.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know. Leaving stage now...
I already have one of those. I must have slipped up and forgotten to use the comma a few times. Oh woe is me!
ReplyDeleteI love the Oxford comma too, but in the newspapers I have worked for it has nearly always got taken out after I have used it :( Proof that papers are bad for the language.
ReplyDeleteI'd guess the thinking is that fewer strokes of the keys make for more productive editors.
ReplyDeleteIt frequently makes for greater clarity and should not be abandoned. I shall continue to use it.
ReplyDeleteWV: "pooff"
The Oxford comma will not go "pooff" under my watch.
This made me think of the book entitled Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
ReplyDeleteMy spell check always stops me when I do not use the Oxford comma. Therefore, I use the Oxford comma, or not.
ReplyDeleteYay! More champions of the Oxford comma!
ReplyDeletePaul, those who want to kill off the comma will go pooff.
whiteycat, yes, indeed. It's a wonderful little book.
Bruce, my spell check doesn't correct punctuation, more's the pity. I tend to make generous use of commas, at times more generous than is necessary, and I could use guidance.
Sorry, not a believer in this cult (the cartoon is very funny, but the second mental picture would only be suggested if a colon followed "strippers").
ReplyDeleteCan't we get energized for an IMPORTANT cause? Namely, the internet will be responsible for the word "loose" getting the alternative definition of "to be defeated"! Argh!!!! >:-0
JCF, there is a time to laugh and play, you know. You should start a blog, and you can address the IMPORTANT causes ALL the time.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, it makes me think of a line from a Discworld novel, which went something like:
ReplyDeleteThey approached the three dead drunk students, intent on inserting the significant comma.
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ReplyDeleteI'm with you Grandmere! Being the English teacher I am made me so careful to always use it in lists...I don't think I could go without it and feel, well like a real writer! LOL!
ReplyDeleteMark, LOL. Your usual dark humor made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteCiss B, you'd feel...naked. I know I would.
The serial comma is not to be lost! Unfortunately, it seems the rules of composition have changed in recent times.
ReplyDeleteHow long before "cuz" "lolz" "yah" and "abowt" become formally-acceptable English?
Hey, Grandmere,
ReplyDeleteThis is one of my first visits here, and what a delight this post is!
I am going to link to it soon :)
Blessings, and thanks, and see how well I'm serialising!
Anita
Did you see this cartoon, posted by Jane Redmont on Facebook?
ReplyDeleteMark, I use words similar to those you mention, but I would never claim that they are formally-acceptable English.
ReplyDeleteAnita, welcome to my blog. I'm so pleased with your mastery of the art of serializing with the Oxford comma.
Lapin, your link did not work for me. :-(
. . I would never claim that they are formally-acceptable English.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY!
However, my primary reason for posting that was . . . I used no commas in the list, and nobody noticed.
Mark Brunson, esq.
Attorney for Lucifage Rocolare
Not for me, either. I've "shared" it to your facebook page.
ReplyDeleteMark, so you did. We're a sad bunch, aren't we? All the quotation marks distracted us.
ReplyDelete