Why the serial (Oxford) comma is important

[Críostóir]

I'm Not Sure Why, But I Find It More Annoying When People Capitalize The First Letter Of Every Word. I Find It Incredibly Difficult To Read.

that too annoying

is to read with

especially but the scramble words

whoo hoo

 

[LilBit]

that too annoying

is to read with

especially but the scramble words

whoo hoo

7000+ million people in da worlds ans ya gots da internets

"wat's dat"
"it's ma penis"
"KOOL"

cue anime.

 

[Críostóir]

7000+ million people in da worlds ans ya gots da internets

"wat's dat"
"it's ma penis"
"KOOL"

cue anime.

A much more accurate parody than mine...but he's been on my Ignore list for quite a while.

 

[frankfrank]

that too annoying

is to read with

especially but the scramble words

whoo hoo

Rdneaig dlxysiec pstos is a btcih, too.

 

[DonQuixote]

^ It is certainly a challenge.
Then again, knowing that my fingers have their own progression of typing, and certain inherent juxtapositions, I try to make sure I proof before hitting the enter key.

Even then, I sometimes need a quick edit.

 

[ShihTzuTylenol]

lol

I love your amazing powers of observation, Críostóir. Send that one to Jay Leno...or is it Letterman that does the misprinted adds?

 

[ShihTzuTylenol]

A much more accurate parody than mine...but he's been on my Ignore list for quite a while.

I take it he got on your last nerve? Would love to hear the tale. Send me a pm....

 

[DonQuixote]

Tzu,
That would be Letterman.

 

[EasyRory]

I worked for a man who insisted that a sentence be rewritten if it depended on punctuation to convey its intended meaning. At the time we communicated with several remote offices by Telex, which was notorious for dropping characters.

 

[bulge]

What's an Oxford comma?

What's a serial comma?

Never heard about it.

Is that something hanging in your pants?

 

[Críostóir]

What's an Oxford comma?

What's a serial comma?

Never heard about it.

Is that something hanging in your pants?

It's the comma before the 'and' in a list. For example, in 'Penguins, trilobites, and several butcher's aprons,' the comma after 'trilobites' is the serial comma.

 

[DonQuixote]

(Which is the same thing as the Oxford and Harvard commas - different names for the same specific use of the comma.)

 

[bulge]

It's the comma before the 'and' in a list. For example, in 'Penguins, trilobites, and several butcher's aprons,' the comma after 'trilobites' is the serial comma.

Thanks. That's sweet. It is not used in the languages on the European continent I know. It is considered an abberation in those languages as "and" clearly indicates it is the last proposition in the enumeration. I would never use the Oxford comma. It seems an aberration.

 

[LilBit]

It's the comma before the 'and' in a list. For example, in 'Penguins, trilobites, and several butcher's aprons,' the comma after 'trilobites' is the serial comma.

Why must you always use my grocery lists in your examples?

 

[DonQuixote]

Need some Omega-3 Fatty Acid Oils and Lots of Minerals there, LilBit?

 

[Críostóir]

Thanks. That's sweet. It is not used in the languages on the European continent I know. It is considered an abberation in those languages as "and" clearly indicates it is the last proposition in the enumeration. I would never use the Oxford comma. It seems an aberration.

Did you read the thread? The ridiculousness of some cases when it's left out should make it clear. "This book is dedicated to my parents, Ayn Rand and God" for example.

It's not an aberration (your second spelling is the correct one). It's an important clarifier for something that's made obvious by intonation in speaking.

 

[Críostóir]

^Sometimes, I think they're just too lazy, Croistoir.

I'm just going to say RTFT (Read The Fucking Thread) from now on.

 

[Keelandson]

This is more words, which is probably why they used the dumb sentence they did.

One more word in that cutline and it wouldn't fit. The paper probably has a two-line cutline limit under two-column pictures. But if not and three lines could have been written, the cutline would have needed padding so as not to leave a huge line of white space after only one word or two. Only one word or two in a third line would have been condemned as a near-widow/orphan.

It's refreshing to see my original notions validated, but the Oxford comma still seems to be dying. Does anybody know why?

Redundancy. In a list, commas replace the "and." Having a comma and an "and" paints the lily.

 

[Críostóir]

Redundancy. In a list, commas replace the "and." Having a comma and an "and" paints the lily.

I would say "hypercorrective fear of redundancy." Commas don't replace 'and'. In lists all but the last 'and' can be omitted, and in speech the fact that a list is being recited is conveyed through tone of voice; but in writing something else must indicate that, so you put in 'and's.

For the same reason, you need the serial comma. If you read "This book..." aloud as the author intended it, there's no problem. But in writing you either use the serial comma or it looks like the author is contending that his parents are Ayn Rand and God.

 

[Keelandson]

I would say "hypercorrective fear of redundancy."

I should have added, . . . except in the interests of clarity. The Associated Press and Canadian Press stylebooks decry the Oxford comma, but make it clear it should be used if necessary, to avoid possible confusion.

Many such rules hark back to the days of hand-set type, then hot-metal publishing, when even an extra comma could kick a column of type down an extra line and cause no end of trouble. It was no joke trying to make a stick of type fit when it was made of lead, not electrons.

It was much easier to space out a too-short stick of type if need be, simply by ledding it out with thin spaces between paragraphs or even sentences.