Today's topic: The Oxford (or "serial") comma
Quick quiz. Which is correct?
A. I bought apples, oranges and bananas.
OR
B. I bought apples, oranges, and bananas.
Note that in both examples, we have a list of three items. The
difference is whether the author used the Oxford (a.k.a. "serial,"
a.k.a. "Harvard") comma, a comma that in a series of three or more items
comes between the second-to-last item and the "and."
In the example above, the Oxford comma is highlighted in yellow. So
let's have the results of our quiz...
If you said A, you're right.
If you said, B, you're right.
Everybody wins, huh? Not so much. The irritating fact is that there is
no true consensus on whether to use the Oxford comma. Some style
manuals say to always use it, some say to never use it, and some say to
use it only in certain circumstances. Ugh, ambiguity.
Both the Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) and the 6th edition APA
handbook say to use the Oxford comma. However, the AP manual (used by
journalists) says not to use it. Also, amusingly, Oxford University no
longer recommends using the comma that bears its
name.
So how should we determine whether to use the Oxford comma? Since there
isn't a consensus, I think the rule of thumb should be to use it when
it is
necessary to avoid confusion. For example, take this sentence:
I'd like to thank my parents, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Colin Powell.
The way that's punctuated, it looks like the author's parents are
Madeline Albright and Colin Powell. On the other hand, if you use the
Oxford comma...
I'd like to thank my parents, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright, and Colin Powell.
In that example, it's clear that the author is thanking four people.
She's thanking her parents, and she's also thanking Madeline Albright
and Colin Powell.
So. In sentences where omitting the Oxford comma might cause confusion,
I say put it in. However, you should definitely make sure to check
the author guidelines of the journals to which you submit, as well as
any style manual required by a professor or journal
editor.
For information on which style guides and organizations say to use the
Oxford comma and which say to omit it, check out this entertaining
chart:
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/oxford-comma-pictures?page=all
I hope you found this week's post helpful. Happy scribbling!
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