Opinion of the Oxford Comma

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Millennials that don't want to properly distinguish between list items can frig off.

Yeah, the thing is, I'm already doing that perfectly adequately without that pussyass comma!

F#cking millennials.

[kcguy]

Also, can you provide an example where the lack of a serial comma introduces ambiguity that cannot be resolved by simply re-ordering the named items in the series?

OK, this could easily be resolved by re-ordering the list, but a classic example of a sentence needing the Oxford comma is the following:

"Present at his funeral were his two ex-wives, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr."

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Also, can you provide an example where the lack of a serial comma introduces ambiguity that cannot be resolved by simply re-ordering the named items in the series?

OK, this could easily be resolved by re-ordering the list, but a classic example of a sentence needing the Oxford comma is the following:

"Present at his funeral were his two ex-wives, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr."

Re-ordering the list wouldn't actually resolve the ambiguity, because it would make the antecedent of the second 'his' unclear.

[AGA]

You can take it or leave it. It does not hurt to use it and does look better in front of people who know about this rule. I personally use it.

[RINO Tom]

Millennials that don't want to properly distinguish between list items can frig off.

Yeah, the thing is, I'm already doing that perfectly adequately without that pussyass comma!

F#cking millennials.

I'm older than you!  And it's easily more traditional to leave it out in American writing, isn't it?

[tmthforu94]

So, the positives of using it are reducing possible confusion and ambiguity, while the negatives are...

It's extraneous.  In situations where it matters (like on old school typewriters or Twitter), it counts as a character space. 

Also, can you provide an example where the lack of a serial comma introduces ambiguity that cannot be resolved by simply re-ordering the named items in the series?

Exactly. It just adds redundancy and is a sign of poor journalism, hence why AP style does not use it.

[pikachu]

FP (school newspaper copy editor, AP style messed this one up)

[Gustaf]

Who gives a  about an Oxford Comma?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Relevant:




Obviously confusion can still remain, but let's be honest: where does your mind go to first?

[RINO Tom]

Relevant:




Obviously confusion can still remain, but let's be honest: where does your mind go to first?

Goes both ways:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma

Under the adding ambiguity section, it gives the following quote, where the author is thanking his mother, the author Ayn Rand and the creator of all things God ... Yet it kind of looks like this is being written by Ayn Rand's son (with the commas acting as a grammatical tool to rename his mother):

[In the dedication of the book]: "To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God"

Compare that to the much clearer: "To my mother, Ayn Rand and God"

[tmthforu94]

^^^Precisely. It can create for confusion both ways that can be corrected by switching the order around. Ultimately, the Oxford Comma is redundant and should go away.

[Storebought]

In written schoolwork, "this, that, and other" was mandatory. I admit that using a conjunction without it looks, well, incorrect.

It's a minor issue for me. I can think of other abuses of punctuation that offend me far more !!!!!))))))))!!!

[RI]

Relevant:




Obviously confusion can still remain, but let's be honest: where does your mind go to first?

Goes both ways:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma

Under the adding ambiguity section, it gives the following quote, where the author is thanking his mother, the author Ayn Rand and the creator of all things God ... Yet it kind of looks like this is being written by Ayn Rand's son (with the commas acting as a grammatical tool to rename his mother):

[In the dedication of the book]: "To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God"

Compare that to the much clearer: "To my mother, Ayn Rand and God"

I think the correct usage is to omit the commas if your mother were in fact Ayn Rand. "To my mother Ayn Rand and God."

[RINO Tom]

Relevant:




Obviously confusion can still remain, but let's be honest: where does your mind go to first?

Goes both ways:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma

Under the adding ambiguity section, it gives the following quote, where the author is thanking his mother, the author Ayn Rand and the creator of all things God ... Yet it kind of looks like this is being written by Ayn Rand's son (with the commas acting as a grammatical tool to rename his mother):

[In the dedication of the book]: "To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God"

Compare that to the much clearer: "To my mother, Ayn Rand and God"

I think the correct usage is to omit the commas if your mother were in fact Ayn Rand. "To my mother Ayn Rand and God."

That's certainly debatable ... commas are very regularly placed on each side of a renaming phrase (My favorite message board, Atlas, has that same rule).

[Kingpoleon]

The Oxford Comma is good, great, and amazing.

[angus]

Time to show my inner nerd. What are your thoughts on adding a comma before the final item in a list. I'm personally a fan.

I had never heard of it before so I looked it up and found that your description is inaccurate.  It is a comma placed after the penultimate item in a list. 

I was taught to make lists that way in school and I always do.  I do not regard it as a freedom practice or a horrible practice, but I consistently use it in order to be grammatically correct.

[RINO Tom]

The Oxford Comma is good, great, and amazing.

More like ugly, stupid and redundant.

EDIT: I wonder if there is a correlation between political affiliation and usage of the Oxford comma.  I would have always assumed Republicans would be more likely to NOT use it, as that seems to be more in line with old timey tradition like newspapers and the favored practice of business types (totally anecdotal), but there doesn't seem to be much of a pattern.

[Mr. Illini]

Necessary

[GliddenVarnish]

,

[RI]

But what about the Oxford semicolon??

[Wells]

The Oxford Comma is good, great, and amazing.

[Human]

The Oxford Comma is good, great, and amazing.