To be a fan of the Oxford comma?

[MrMan]

Sentences just seem so wrong otherwise.

YANBU Oxford Comma Rules OK!

In the original news story I think some people were confusing the University of Oxford with Oxford University Press. OUP is a part of the university but as a publishing house has its own guide to style. No necessary reason why the two bodies should use exactly the same style guides, to be honest. There's a lot of other guidelines that they diverge on!

I think commas are over-used, and I would only use an Oxford comma if it were absolutely necessary to avoid confusion.

But I adore a nice semi-colon; I find it breaks up sentences perfectly.

There are no arguments in our house about punctuation or grammar. DH wouldn't recognise a semi-colon if it bit him on the arse, although I now have him well-trained on correct usage of "less" and "fewer".

Loving this thread...might just set up a Facebook page 'Preserve the Oxford comma' :)

I like the Oxford comma. I like anything that aids clarity, really.
As for taking the apostrophes out of GCSE English, I have no idea what that might mean. I teach it and there is no examined grammar element, so apostrophes aren't in it in the first place. However, incorrect usage would have an effect on marks in the areas of the exam which test writing ability.

(Sighs happily)
This is why I love Mumsnet.
As you were.

Wizzchick. Please do. I'll be there in a flash.

Not a fan of the oxford comma. Although, surely, if it is to help clarify then you can use it and not for when something is clear already.

When I was working, our editorial style guide specified no oxford comma. So perhaps it is habit.

Aha! busted!

Do I win a prize?!

BIG fan of the comma here!

I also use it when texting too

Oops, that's a double thingamibob - shouldn't have used 'also' and 'too' in the same sentence, apologies!!

Whatever your personal rule, you should follow George Orwell's maxim: "Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous."

:)

Tautology?

That was to PLP btw

YABU. I don't like it. To me it seems superfluous and is almost always avoidable by rephrasing the list to remove ambiguity. On the other hand, am in agreement with FreeButtonBee about semi-colons.

" It makes written communication clearer in some circumstances, which is the whole point of grammar."

No - that is the point of punctuation.

Grammar is how we structure our (written AND spoken) language to make it "correct" according to the perception of a community of native speakers.

Pedantry over.

in all the examples given so far, simply restructing the sentance would remove the need for the comma - god, my parents and barbara for instance. Its just lazy writing. I went to high school in the states where I was constantly being marked down for sentances that were too long, however much punctuation I used. At our school we were told that conjunctions do not require a comma as they are in themselves a pause.

I love a judiciously used Oxford comma. Not as much as I love a semicolon though.

The judicious use of the Oxford comma very definitely has its place. It is there for the purposes of clarity; I find it interesting that one of the fields in which there is no debate about its use is in drafting legal documents, where it is may be needed in order to avoid confusion.

However, it has been brought into disrepute by over-use, where there is no potential for confusion.

BTW: it may have passed some people's notice, but Oxford is in England so it is not an American import. Neatly avoiding the issue that it is also sometimes called the Harvard comma

Ladyclarice : I was drafting my comment and therefore honestly didn't see your post before my own post. Hope you approve of my use of the semi-colon!

Can I be an idiot and ask what an Oxford comma is? Is it just a normal comma like this? ,

prettybird, I love it

Ems101: an Oxford comma is when a comma is used before an "and" - which is usually a "no-no" unless you are writing reading books for children and want to irritate their parents who know better

However, in certain circumstances, a comma is required in the interests of clarity.

For example:
These items are available in black and white, red and yellow, and blue and green

I would just structure mu sentence to make it clear what I mean e.g.

"These items are available in black and white, in red and yellow and also in blue and green"

My way is more cumbersome really but I had never heard of an Oxford comma before today; I must go away and study its use.

Whilst understanding that in the examples given it does aid clarity, I would never use it and would write my sentences in such a way that avoidance would not cause confusion.

I like it.

I may even construct sentences specifically to make it necessary to use one.