Why do People Misuse the Oxford Comma?

UponThisRock

The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma or Harvard comma, and sometimes referred to as the series comma) is the comma used immediately before a coordinating conjunction (usually and or or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, a list of three countries can be punctuated as either "Portugal, Spain, and France" (with the serial comma) or as "Portugal, Spain and France" (without the serial comma).[1][2][3]

Opinions vary among writers and editors on the usage or avoidance of the serial comma. In American English, the serial comma is standard usage in non-journalistic writing that follows the Chicago Manual of Style.[4] Journalists, however, usually follow the AP Stylebook, which advises against it. It is used less often in British English,[5][6] where it is standard usage to leave it out, with some notable exceptions such as Fowler's Modern English Usage.[7] In many languages (e.g. Danish,[8] French,[9] German,[10] Greek,[11] Italian,[12] Polish,[13] Spanish[14]) the serial comma is not the norm and may even go against punctuation rules. It may be recommended in many cases, however, to avoid ambiguity or to aid prosody.

Cmh1211

i see what u did there... lol

lisaidem

I'm calling you my boyfriend and there is nothing you can do about it. :flowerforyou:

KJVBear33

Because its fun to? :huh:

UponThisRock

I'm calling you my boyfriend and there is nothing you can do about it. :flowerforyou:

I'll send you my list of demands

lisaidem

I'm calling you my boyfriend and there is nothing you can do about it. :flowerforyou:

I'll send you my list of demands

And suddenly this is a hostage crisis.

xo_morgan

"Gentlemen...Im the answer to your prayers"

vsmurrow

Because they're undereducated, confused, and not willing to spend 20 seconds on Wikipedia like yourself, good sir.

AlayshaJ

I was taught this, this, and this. My brain does this, this and this. Even after reading this I still do not know which is right, but I am extremely hungry and can't concentrate.

marnijojo

The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma or Harvard comma, and sometimes referred to as the series comma) is the comma used immediately before a coordinating conjunction (usually and or or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, a list of three countries can be punctuated as either "Portugal, Spain, and France" (with the serial comma) or as "Portugal, Spain and France" (without the serial comma).[1][2][3]

Opinions vary among writers and editors on the usage or avoidance of the serial comma. In American English, the serial comma is standard usage in non-journalistic writing that follows the Chicago Manual of Style.[4] Journalists, however, usually follow the AP Stylebook, which advises against it. It is used less often in British English,[5][6] where it is standard usage to leave it out, with some notable exceptions such as Fowler's Modern English Usage.[7] In many languages (e.g. Danish,[8] French,[9] German,[10] Greek,[11] Italian,[12] Polish,[13] Spanish[14]) the serial comma is not the norm and may even go against punctuation rules. It may be recommended in many cases, however, to avoid ambiguity or to aid prosody.

**moist**

UponThisRock

The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma or Harvard comma, and sometimes referred to as the series comma) is the comma used immediately before a coordinating conjunction (usually and or or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, a list of three countries can be punctuated as either "Portugal, Spain, and France" (with the serial comma) or as "Portugal, Spain and France" (without the serial comma).[1][2][3]

Opinions vary among writers and editors on the usage or avoidance of the serial comma. In American English, the serial comma is standard usage in non-journalistic writing that follows the Chicago Manual of Style.[4] Journalists, however, usually follow the AP Stylebook, which advises against it. It is used less often in British English,[5][6] where it is standard usage to leave it out, with some notable exceptions such as Fowler's Modern English Usage.[7] In many languages (e.g. Danish,[8] French,[9] German,[10] Greek,[11] Italian,[12] Polish,[13] Spanish[14]) the serial comma is not the norm and may even go against punctuation rules. It may be recommended in many cases, however, to avoid ambiguity or to aid prosody.

**moist**

Give me your number, we can talk prepositional phrases.

Qarol

Grammar Porn!

taso42

CoryIda

lisaidem

Taso42--

You should be teaching today's youth, if you aren't already.

CoryIda

I love the Oxford Comma.

SwannySez

I will await @FakeAPStyleBook's Twitter ruling on this while I continue to avoid it as I do other things Oxfordian out of sheer bloodymindedness.

UponThisRock

^^^LOL @ both of these.

california_peach

But, I prefer stripper Stalin to real Stalin.

lickmybaconcakes

I don't that often but I might be guilty of not using it appropriately when writing in Danish or Spanish.

UsedToBeHusky

I would comment but I take my punctuation very seriously

It could start a fight

billsica

,

lickmybaconcakes

It is not neccesary that grammar Nazis thank me.

http://www.ox.ac.uk/branding_toolkit/writing_and_style_guide/punctuation.html#athe_comma

Krizzle4Rizzle

*raises hand* I abuse the oxford comma, but I have been working on my grammar and spelling.

maletac

'Let's eat Grandma!' or, 'Let's eat, Grandma!'

Punctuation saves lives.

???????????????????????????

Contrarian

Either way, JFK and Stalin aren't going to show up.

CaWaterBug8

legmotor

'Let's eat Grandma!' or, 'Let's eat, Grandma!'

Punctuation saves lives.

???????????????????????????

ummmm...

CountryBoy65

The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma or Harvard comma, and sometimes referred to as the series comma) is the comma used immediately before a coordinating conjunction (usually and or or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, a list of three countries can be punctuated as either "Portugal, Spain, and France" (with the serial comma) or as "Portugal, Spain and France" (without the serial comma).[1][2][3]

Opinions vary among writers and editors on the usage or avoidance of the serial comma. In American English, the serial comma is standard usage in non-journalistic writing that follows the Chicago Manual of Style.[4] Journalists, however, usually follow the AP Stylebook, which advises against it. It is used less often in British English,[5][6] where it is standard usage to leave it out, with some notable exceptions such as Fowler's Modern English Usage.[7] In many languages (e.g. Danish,[8] French,[9] German,[10] Greek,[11] Italian,[12] Polish,[13] Spanish[14]) the serial comma is not the norm and may even go against punctuation rules. It may be recommended in many cases, however, to avoid ambiguity or to aid prosody.

**moist**

Give me your number, we can talk prepositional phrases.

Or Dangling Participles....

_SusieQ_

I would comment, but I take my punctuation very seriously.

It could start a fight.

Fixed it for you. :flowerforyou:

k8blujay2

Meh. Puncuation confuses me to no end. I would rather be learning Partial Differential Equations and Atmospheric Dynamics. So I use the "when in doubt use a comma" rule.