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Oeditpus Rex

(42,402 posts)
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 02:14 PM Aug 12

And then there's the Oxford comma

or serial comma.

Use it when needed for clarity and to avoid ambiguity.

When not needed, don't use it.

25 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
And then there's the Oxford comma (Original Post) Oeditpus Rex Aug 12 OP
I love it. Guess you could say I love clarifying ambiguity. 🤭 Polly Hennessey Aug 12 #1
Why use it Oeditpus Rex Aug 12 #5
Personally, I prefer a consistent style. unblock Aug 12 #7
"I love my parents, bob and jane." unblock Aug 12 #6
That sentence could (and should) easily be recast: Oeditpus Rex Aug 12 #8
Not to forget the missing (or extra) apostrophe. erronis Aug 12 #2
It's an anti-hacking measure. Hackers inject some code there. Not sure why hacking is problem w titles, but not reply.nt Bernardo de La Paz Aug 12 #3
Like when Dodgers fans complain Oeditpus Rex Aug 12 #10
I still get tripped up frequently when constructing a possessive with names that end with 's'. erronis Aug 12 #11
Yep. The family Roberts. PoindexterOglethorpe Aug 12 #14
In recent decades? WestMichRad Aug 12 #15
I was taught Oeditpus Rex Aug 12 #17
That's how Strunk and White do it. malthaussen Aug 14 #19
"Its a shame about it's abuse! " PoindexterOglethorpe Aug 12 #13
I try to avoid ambiguity, but it always finds me. Harker Aug 12 #4
I feel the same way to. lpbk2713 Aug 12 #9
At least too of us. erronis Aug 12 #12
Got into a battle over the Oxford Coma LogDog75 Aug 12 #16
Understanding meaning is the entire point of grammar Oeditpus Rex Aug 12 #18
I submit there is a subtle difference you're ignoring. malthaussen Aug 14 #20
You're doing what many Oxford comma adherents do: Oeditpus Rex Aug 14 #21
Of course not. malthaussen Aug 14 #22
... Oeditpus Rex Aug 14 #23
Vampire Weekend Coventina Aug 15 #24
Word Crimes, eh? OldBaldy1701E Aug 15 #25

unblock

(55,558 posts)
7. Personally, I prefer a consistent style.
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 02:36 PM
Aug 12

"When there's no ambiguity" can get pretty subjective or context-dependent.

unblock

(55,558 posts)
6. "I love my parents, bob and jane."
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 02:34 PM
Aug 12

Personally, I always use the Oxford comma. So technically, if I were to write the above statement, it would unambiguously refer to two people: my parents, whose names are bob and Jane.

But generally, the statement is ambiguous if you don't know the style as it relates to the Oxford comma as it could refer to four people.

erronis

(21,062 posts)
2. Not to forget the missing (or extra) apostrophe.
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 02:26 PM
Aug 12

Its a shame about it's abuse!

Can't use in DU title's because it confuses the poor encoders/decoders - I guess its a PHP thing.

Bernardo de La Paz

(57,672 posts)
3. It's an anti-hacking measure. Hackers inject some code there. Not sure why hacking is problem w titles, but not reply.nt
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 02:30 PM
Aug 12

Oeditpus Rex

(42,402 posts)
10. Like when Dodgers fans complain
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 02:57 PM
Aug 12

about manager "Dave Robert's"?

I sometimes ask them, "Dave Robert's what? And who's Dave Robert?" They never understand that.

I always want to ask people, "What thought process led you to put an apostrophe there?" I'd ask that of a student if I were an English instructor, but not on social media, especially in a thread about baseball.

erronis

(21,062 posts)
11. I still get tripped up frequently when constructing a possessive with names that end with 's'.
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 03:00 PM
Aug 12

Roberts's?

PoindexterOglethorpe

(28,039 posts)
14. Yep. The family Roberts.
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 04:35 PM
Aug 12

"The Roberts's car crashed." Although in recent decades even that has become "The Roberts' car crashed."

WestMichRad

(2,530 posts)
15. In recent decades?
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 05:14 PM
Aug 12

I learned that the extra s should be omitted… more than 50 years ago.

Thanks for making me feel younger today!

Oeditpus Rex

(42,402 posts)
17. I was taught
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 09:27 PM
Aug 12

"Roberts'." Or "the Williams'," not "the Williams's" and definitely not "the Williamses'."

"Roberts's is acceptable, but it strikes me as clunky.

malthaussen

(18,281 posts)
19. That's how Strunk and White do it.
Thu Aug 14, 2025, 09:07 AM
Aug 14

An " 's" to indicate possession is always correct. There's no need to drop the "s," but writers have gotten progressively lazier over the years.

Fun factoid (if you find this sort of thing fun): the " 's" is a contraction to stand in for "his." In earlier English, possession of something would be indicated by saying (eg) "John, his hat." They decided that was too silly-sounding, and so used the contraction " 's" instead: "John's hat."
And no, they weren't much worried about pronouns in those days.

-- Mal

erronis

(21,062 posts)
12. At least too of us.
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 03:02 PM
Aug 12

Poor people learning English later in life. It's hard enough having been immersed in it. And it keeps changing.

LogDog75

(792 posts)
16. Got into a battle over the Oxford Coma
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 08:53 PM
Aug 12

I reviewed enlisted performance reports before they went to the commander for his signature. Formatting had to be correct. Had to be able to quantify and qualify what an individual did. This included listing tree or more related items in a sentence.

One SNCO, same rank as me, argued the coma wasn’t necessary anymore before the word “and.” I told him that’s the way the AF writes and pulled out the AF book on writing and showed him where it said that. He had a degree in English and insisted his way was the current way of writing. I returned the performance report to him and told him to do it the way the AF says to do it. He was hot under the collar about it but in the end he complied.

All that over a silly coma. Frankly, on a board like this it really doesn’t matter as long as we understand what the person is writing.

Oeditpus Rex

(42,402 posts)
18. Understanding meaning is the entire point of grammar
Tue Aug 12, 2025, 09:44 PM
Aug 12

An unnecessary Oxford comma isn't "wrong" per se (not "per say" ), but if the phrase or sentence is immediately understandable wihout it, why use it? It looks awkward in such cases.

"The leaders of the three National League divisions are the Dodgers, Phillies and Brewers."

If someone is confused by that because there's no comma before "and"... well, I don't know.

malthaussen

(18,281 posts)
20. I submit there is a subtle difference you're ignoring.
Thu Aug 14, 2025, 09:13 AM
Aug 14

Say we have a sequence of individual items that are otherwise unrelated, eg "Dodgers, Phillies, and Braves." That is different from a series of items in which a pair are otherwise related, eg "John, Alfred, and Dick and Jane" where, eg again, Dick and Jane are a married couple or otherwise always spoken of together.

IOW, I submit that omitting the final comma suggests that the last two elements in the sentence are related in some way besides being in the list.

-- Mal

Oeditpus Rex

(42,402 posts)
21. You're doing what many Oxford comma adherents do:
Thu Aug 14, 2025, 09:50 AM
Aug 14

Using a phrase that obviously requires an Oxford comma to make the point that all sentences or phrases with more than three subjects need one.

Did you find my example confusing in any way?

malthaussen

(18,281 posts)
22. Of course not.
Thu Aug 14, 2025, 06:08 PM
Aug 14

I am fully acclimated to the downfall of the English language in the 21st century.

-- Mal

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