The Oxford Comma

I believe strongly in the Oxford comma and find it vaguely irritating when it isn't used, even though I know it's considered a valid style choice.

There is no reason not to use it, and not using it can result in problems with certain sequential constructions. Use it.

caw

I agree. I don't see any good reason not to use it.

I remembered this being discussed on another thread, and someone posted a link to this story

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/oxford-comma-lawsuit.html

I've always used it, and I do not see a good reason not to use it.

I was originally taught not to use it but have drifted towards using it as the results tend to be less ambiguous.

veinglory said:

I was originally taught not to use it but have drifted towards using it as the results tend to be less ambiguous.

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That's funny because I was always taught to use it. I guess it depends on the teacher?

acockey said:

Where do you fall on the oxford comma debate. I for one have always used the oxford comma. Why do you use it in your writing, or why do you not use that "Comma Style"?

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I always use it. I can't think of a single reason not to, while the compelling reason to use it is clarity. Not to mention consistency.

spork said:

That's funny because I was always taught to use it. I guess it depends on the teacher?

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It's gone in and out of style, so it might depend on a person's age. In my lifetime, I was taught was both ways, but I've rejected the "don't use it" teaching.

I can't think of a single example of when leaving out that last comma would improve a sentence.

BethS said:

It's gone in and out of style, so it might depend on a person's age. In my lifetime, I was taught was both ways, but I've rejected the "don't use it" teaching.

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I've encountered a few professors who marked an Oxford comma as an error in my papers, but I just attributed that to personal preference. It makes sense that it would vary depending on the curriculum in schools at the time you took certain courses. I know in my old school system they don't even teach cursive anymore.

blacbird said:

There is no reason not to use it, and not using it can result in problems with certain sequential constructions. Use it.

caw

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This.

What blacbird said. There is no reason to leave it out.

I was never taught anything about it. I use it if necessary for comprehension, because that's how I've always seen it used (and Wikipedia backs me up on that being standard practice in Oz.)

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My writing tends to contain far few commas in general though.

I use the serial or "Oxford" comma in my own writing, but most of my years teaching English in high school and in colleges and lately as an editor, I've never insisted on one method over the other. It depends on the publisher.

I have, however, always strongly recommended consistency with commas. Using a serial comma here and leaving it out there in a continuous work of any length can confuse even careful readers.

aspirit said:

I can't think of a single example of when leaving out that last comma would improve a sentence.

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We invited the strippers, Joseph Lenin and John F. Kennedy.

VS.

We invited the strippers, Joseph Lenin, and John F. Kennedy.

WHICH ONE IS FUNNIER? With or without the serial comma?

Use commas to reinforce the meaning you want your reader to see.

Or write a better sentence.

BenPanced said:

We invited the strippers, Joseph Lenin and John F. Kennedy.

VS.

We invited the strippers, Joseph Lenin, and John F. Kennedy.

WHICH ONE IS FUNNIER? With or without the serial comma?

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Whenever I hear debates about the Oxford comma, I always think of sentences like that. Definitely funnier, though!

Which one is true? A funny mistake is still a mistake.

(Anyway, of course I'd prefer to see strippers skilled enough to pull up Lenin and Kennedy.)

acockey said:

Where do you fall on the oxford comma debate. I for one have always used the oxford comma. Why do you use it in your writing, or why do you not use that "Comma Style"?

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I use it as it is the only logical and correct way to say what is actually the case being described. Lawyers must use it or lose lawsuits as has happened when they didn't.
Engineers must use it or their specifications could be wrong.

aspirit said:

Which one is true? A funny mistake is still a mistake.

(Anyway, of course I'd prefer to see strippers skilled enough to pull up Lenin and Kennedy.)

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Don't you mean "pull off?"

I use it. I can't imagine not using it. As others have said, leaving the Oxford comma out does not make for better reading comprehension.

As some others, I was taught it was 'old-fashioned' long ago. Never used it in the years I was writing articles for magazines (mostly the 80s and 90s). Now I wouldn't think of leaving that comma out.

Now that is figured out, I need to come to some conclusion on the best way to form the possessive of words ending with an S.

insolentlad said:

Now that is figured out, I need to come to some conclusion on the best way to form the possessive of words ending with an S.

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La casa de Señor Gonzales.

caw