Serial or Oxford Comma

Question

Is the use of the serial comma ever wrong? Would you personally use it consistently in your writing?Thank you.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Is the use of the serial comma ever wrong? Here is a pretty current discussion of this so-called 'Oxford comma'.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/06/29/oxford-comma-dropped-university-serial-comma_n_886932.html#s300557title=Roisin_Bonner

Would you personally use it consistently in your writing? No, never, if you mean in simple cases like I like apples, oranges, and bananas. Moreover, I've never personally encountered the Oxford comma in use in Oxford in such cases.

Clive

Victo · Answer

Thanks, Clive. Have a nice weekend.

CSnyder · Answer

I, on the other hand, will never stop using the Oxford comma, whether in letters, essays, or even journal entries.

RandomGuy · Answer

CliveHere is a pretty current discussion of this so-called 'Oxford comma'.

Here’s a more recent article clarifying that The Oxford University Press still uses the comma:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/did-oxford-drop-the-oxford-comma.aspx

victoIs the use of the serial comma ever wrong?

No, of course not. In fact, it usually doesn’t matter whether you use it or not.

You might find these articles interesting:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/serial-comma.aspx

http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/the-serial-harvard-or-oxford-comma/

victoWould you personally use it consistently in your writing?

Always.

Victo · Answer

Thank you.

Enoon · Answer

victoIs the use of the serial comma ever wrong? Would you personally use it consistently in your writing?Thank you.

It's always wrong in a simple list, and it's always right in a complex one. If its presence or absence causes ambiguity, recast the sentence instead of pinning your hopes to a punctuation mark.

Victo · Answer

Great advice, enoon.

Thank you.

RandomGuy · Answer

enoonIt's always wrong in a simple list

Victo · Answer

Superlative example, Aspara Gus. I will never omit the Harvard comma again after viewing that depiction.

Clive · Answer

As I said,
No, never, if you mean in simple cases like I like apples, oranges, and bananas.

The stripper example is cute, but it's not at all what I'd call a simple case like the one I have quoted above.

I can only speak from my own subjective experience, but my feeling is that with a serial comma your English will look odd to many well-educated people. However, it''s your choice, of course.

I'd hesitate to use it in an Oxford essay.

Clive

Serial or Oxford Comma

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