One for the grammar police?

OB..


Referees in England
Staff member
Joined
Oct 7, 2004
Messages
22,981
Post Likes
1,838
A trivial point of usage. Fowler regards it as optional. Personally I always use it because it tends to make a list clearer.
 

beckett50


Referees in England
Joined
Jan 31, 2004
Messages
2,514
Post Likes
224
Current Referee grade:
Level 6
I am in the OB school of thought.
 

crossref


Referees in England
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
21,805
Post Likes
3,145
In this case I can't see it makes any difference to the meaning .. so who cares
 

Jz558


Referees in England
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Messages
386
Post Likes
132
Current Referee grade:
Select Grade
Was taught at (more than one) school that it was incorrect to use a comma in those circumstances and was red marked if done. Mind you, as my Father rarely stops reminding me, education in the 1970s was largely optional in schools
 

Taff


Referees in Wales
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
6,942
Post Likes
383
I was taught that if writing a list, the comma before the word "and" was dropped.
 

Rich_NL

Rugby Expert
Joined
Apr 13, 2015
Messages
1,621
Post Likes
499
"I dedicate this award to my parents, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks" is different to
"I dedicate this award to my parents, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks"
 

Taff


Referees in Wales
Joined
Aug 23, 2009
Messages
6,942
Post Likes
383
"I dedicate this award to my parents, Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks" is different to
"I dedicate this award to my parents, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks"

I'm not convinced it is different, but to me the top one looks right.

I'm not going to pick a fight over it though. :biggrin:
 

Zebra1922


Referees in Scotland
Joined
Dec 20, 2017
Messages
716
Post Likes
233
Current Referee grade:
Select Grade
I'm not convinced it is different, but to me the top one looks right.

I'm not going to pick a fight over it though. :biggrin:
The top one implies that your parents ARE Martin Luther King and Rosa bottom one suggests awards go to your parents AND Martin Luther King AND Rosa Parks.

its a really good example, I’ve never understood the need for an Oxford comma, I get it now!
 

Jz558


Referees in England
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Messages
386
Post Likes
132
Current Referee grade:
Select Grade
Who's Martin Luther King?
 

Balones

Referee Advisor / Assessor
Joined
Oct 24, 2006
Messages
1,410
Post Likes
461
I was taught that if writing a list, the comma before the word "and" was dropped.

This was the ‘rule’ that I was taught. However, it has been proved to me that, like nearly all rules in life, it can only be used as a guide rather than a rule. Through considerable experience of reading and writing for a great many years I have decided that you need to use a comma to give clarity depending what on what you are writing. To that end I use it with complete flexibility after I have perhaps re-read what I have written to see if it comes across as I want it to.

P.S. I have just re-read the paragraph above and realise that there could be several grammatical arguments in its content; but that would take this thread into a totally different direction!
 
Last edited:

crossref


Referees in England
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
21,805
Post Likes
3,145
Depending on the season my favourite things for breakfast include cornflakes, muesli, bacon and eggs.

Does that mean bacon-and-eggs. Or are they just two separate items of food I like
 

OB..


Referees in England
Staff member
Joined
Oct 7, 2004
Messages
22,981
Post Likes
1,838
Some commonly taught (in the past) grammatical rules are in fact categorically wrong eg:
Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.
Never choose to deliberately split an infinitive.

Others are optional and the Oxford comma is one such. Use it regularly and you won't get any problems. Ignore it and watch out for the occasional ambiguity.
 

Pinky


Referees in Scotland
Joined
Apr 9, 2010
Messages
1,521
Post Likes
192
Depending on the season my favourite things for breakfast include cornflakes, muesli, bacon and eggs.

Does that mean bacon-and-eggs. Or are they just two separate items of food I like

Occasionally the additional comma clarifies a list, especially if the list has a number of "ands" in it anyway. But we were taught not to used it normally.
 
Top