To be a fan of the Oxford comma?

[MrMan]

Sentences just seem so wrong otherwise.

I too would normally try to re-write to avoid confusion - but sometimes you choose not to do so because, for example, it would spoil the cadence of the overall paragraph. That's why I said judicious use .

There are occasions when it required to ensure that there was no ambiguity. For example, what split should be given to the heirs according to this bequest: I leave all my property in equal shares to Jim, Helen, Tim and Eva. ?

If Tim and Eva were a couple (or even if they weren't), does that mean that the property should be split into thirds, with Tim and Eva between them receiving a third?

If it were written I leave all my property in equal shares to Jim, Helen, Tim, and Eva. it makes it clear that each should receive 25%.

cadence

Exactly.

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

Trills is cantankerous and ornery.

'The duchess wore an electric blue Jacquenta dress by Erdem, the Canadian-born British designer who designed the dress on her arrival in Canada on Thursday.' Here's a terrible sentence from www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14005220 that is crying out for any old comma, let alone an Oxford one.

Actually, there is more wrong with that sentence than just the lack of a comma. It needs complete reconstruction.

YANBU

The Oxford comma is essential to clear communication.

I've been looking at houses on the internet today and it's been really winding me up. They all say:

'Entrance hall has doors to: kitchen, WC, lounge and dining room.'

Does that mean the dining room can only be accessed through the lounge? Is it an open plan room? Or are there separate doors off the hall?

The Oxford comma would sort it all out for me.

no - it's just that a comma should never precede and

Well it shouldn't, but only in certain types of sentence - not others!

I can see that your aforementioned example could almost be acceptable !!

Love, love the Oxford comma. Great thread!

Ornery is an interesting word.

Cantankerous just makes me sound OLD!

I don't use it in legal documents. If you need to use it it's probably because you need to think again how to better construct the sentence.

Precisely Insomnia.
Syntax can't remedy semantics.

Oxford comma great, Cambridge colon less so

(it's what you get after following their diet )