We Give a Duck About an Oxford Comma
Big Duck uses the Oxford comma (sometimes known as the serial comma) when writing. In other words, we put a comma before the and in any list of three or more.
The serial comma rule is formalized in our in-house style guide. Ducks who miss the serial comma (when writing for our blog, for example) face my wrath. And my father was a minister who worked for years alongside another minister named Rath, so I know what I’m talking about. (Pastor Rath was quite kind, actually.)
Anyway, last week, when the news started spreading that the Oxford style guide claimed their own comma was no longer necessary, Jenna raised the issue with me. I’ve been busier than usual the past couple of weeks, so I believe my knee-jerk response was, “I don’t care. We’re still using it.”
I haven’t had much of a chance to look into the full story. Thankfully, this morning, I read a defense of the Oxford comma that I couldn’t agree with more. Go there and read it.
Writing about writing, grammar, and punctuation invites scrutiny, not to mention snarky comments from grammarians. So it may come as no surprise that a couple of inconsistencies in the original post are receiving some negative attention in the comments section of her blog.
Even so, I offer my full-throated support of the content and the writer’s premise, and her explanation is very good.
You may have perfectly legitimate reasons for not using the Oxford comma. For example, in general, newspapers don’t use it (it’s my one beef with the AP Stylebook). So if you work in and around media a lot (such as sending out press releases), it might make sense for you to skip that serial comma, as much as it pains me to say so.
But if you haven’t really thought about formalizing a rule at your organization, the most important thing for us nonprofiteers is always clarity. And Oxford commas help you be clear.
Write well, fans of the 501(c)3.
Comments (7)
I've been using the Oxford comma since middle school English classes, and I've only noticed during the last few years that people don't normally use it. I almost thought I had learned wrong once I saw more and more people skipping it. Even if Oxford say it's no longer necessary, I agree with your point about clarity, so I shall continue to use it!
Hi. I love the Oxford comma, too. I have to say that I've tried 10 times, and I cannot understand her point about the eggs, toast and orange juice. Why does that construction mean that someone would give you toast with juice on it? If anything, it could mean you wanted "toast juice." Or the point could be better made by using "eggs, orange juice and toast" and showing a graphic of orange toast? Did she make a mistake with her image? Can you explain her logic? I really want to understand.
Even the AP Style Manual (may it molder in purgatory forever) says that the serial/Oxford comma is called for when a sentence offers a series of complex ideas and not just simple objects. Many people misinterpret this rule. Let's start a Facebook Page: ILoveSerialCommas!
Hello, nice people. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. Serial commas rule.
The eggs, toast and orange juice example... I'm not sure that the image and comma construction demands that you end up with that particular image. It just means that you could. You could end up with any orange juice and toast combination, at least in how I understand it. Does that help at all? And obviously, in the real world, very few people would actually make that mistake.
Wendy, I'd be shocked if there isn't already a serial comma page on Facebook. But if there isn't, and you start one, I'll "like" the heck out of it.
You are all people after my own heart! I learned punctuation and writing from an excellent teacher in elementary school. I went on to become a successfull freelance writer and author. I taught English to middle schoolers. While I have many improper grammar pet peeves, my punctuation pet peeve is the lack of the Oxford comma. I'm a nonprofit Exec. Dir. now and drive my staff crazy inserting it---well, then just use it, I say!!!
And I'd be happy to "like" the serial comma page on FB, too!
I heart the Oxford comma! Glad you feel the same.
I teach English as a foreign language to people from all over the world, and many of them do not use the Oxford comma. I pretty much always make them use it when I am correcting their essays, papers, etc.
Nice Vampire Weekend reference, by the way (if that's what the "We give a duck about the Oxford comma" was in reference to).
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