The Oxford Comma: Useful or useless?
A comic about the Oxford comma. (It’s funny, but misuses a different type of comma!)
On Tuesdays, we tackle the big issues here at eclecticmisc.org. Today’s topic: the Oxford comma.
The Oxford comma, which is also called a serial comma, is the final comma in a list (or series) of items. It’s a comma that comes before the “and” or “or” that comes at the end of a list. For example:
With an Oxford comma: a dog, a cat, and a mouse
Without it: a dog, a cat and a mouse
In this example, the presence or absence of the comma before “and” doesn’t really change things. People will readily understand it either way.
Consider this fictitious example.
In the first list, it’s clear that there are three items being referenced. In the second, one could argue that it’s unclear whether it’s a list of three separate items (1. my parents 2. Ayn Rand 3. God) or one group/pair of items that has two members (my parents, who are Ayn Rand and God).
It can be a contentious issue. There’s even a TED talk video on it!
I’m a proponent of being clear and systematic when possible. For me, that means using an Oxford comma. There are real-world contexts that can cause confusion, including one that led to a multi-million dollar lawsuit.
The court ordered a dairy company to pay $5 million in overtime to its workers due to a missing Oxford comma that they (and the judge) said made a law confusing over whom was excluded from overtime pay.
Workers barred from receiving overtime pay included those involved in:
“The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of…” (various products)
Does the bolded portion mean one item: packing that is done for shipment and for distribution (putting something in packaging so that it can be shipped and distributed), or is it two items: 1) packing done for shipment, and then separately 2) the actual distributing of it afterwards?
Here are a couple of other real-world examples. I’ve seen ones that are more confusing, but can’t remember or find them now. Maybe I’ll update this post the next time I come across one!
This one is confusing on so many levels.
I wonder if Kristofferson and Duvall suspected they were Merle Haggard’s ex-wives.
The arguments for the Oxford comma are convincing, in my opinion. Here’s one I found that I like:
Source of these delicious words of wisdom
There are apparently some examples where the Oxford comma may make things less clear, as well as arguments against using it. But I’m not including those here, because this is my blog and I’m under no legal obligation to do so. 😀
I don’t understand the banning, and sometimes dislike, of the Oxford comma. The world would be a less confusing place if we used Oxford commas.
One last note: this post is *not* about saying people must use Oxford commas. I’m sure I’ve included incorrect punctuation at some point in this post. If your writing is clear and consistent, I say use whatever punctuation you want. You can obviously choose to omit this particular kind of punctuation.
It’s time to stop the hate and work towards creating a better world filled with harmony, understanding and peace and quiet.
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