do you use the Oxford comma?

[Zebra]

i find it sensible

avoids misunderstandings

 

[citygator]

i find it sensible

avoids misunderstandings

Let's eat children.

oops I meant.

Let's eat, children.

 

[Mack The Finger]

On the WWW no...I make up my own punctuation.

I wouldn't use it in a offical letter.

 

[marvin martian]

Let's eat children.

oops I meant.

Let's eat, children.

Both of those work for you, though.

 

[Zebra]

Let's eat children.

oops I meant.

Let's eat, children.

good example, but not an Oxford comma

it as the comma before and after a sequence

 

[toobfreak]

do you use the Oxford comma?​

You sure are a person of many questions.

I use the serial comma because it avoids ambiguity in groupings, and IMO, should be required for proper english.

 

[Zebra]

You sure are a person of many questions.

I use the serial comma because it avoids ambiguity in groupings, and IMO, should be required for proper english.

ok ..... i like polls, but nobody is forced to answer

and yes, i use that comma also in German texts

 

[marvin martian]

i find it sensible

avoids misunderstandings

I use it, because I learned to write before computer spell check existed (which does not identify a missing Oxford comma as an error).

 

[Concerned American]

You sure are a person of many questions.

I use the serial comma because it avoids ambiguity in groupings, and IMO, should be required for proper english.

I was taught that it is used as a delineator of a list or in place of the word "and" according to my journalism style book.

 

[JGalt]

i find it sensible

avoids misunderstandings

Never heard of it, but I've been using it all my life. Consider the sentence, "I want to thank my parents, God and Trump." Without the comma, it sounds like my parents are God and Trump. With the Oxford comma, "I want to thank my parents, God, and Trump" makes it clear that God and Trump are separate entities from my parents.

 

[toobfreak]

I was taught that it is used as a delineator of a list or in place of the word "and" according to my journalism style book.

Generally, you are never wrong for using it, and generally better off with it, so I treat it like a math problem.

Signs of groupings in math mean everything. Change the grouping and you change the meaning,

Saying 'sweet potatoes, mash potatoes, and gravy' means slightly different from 'sweet potatoes, mash potatoes and gravy.'

One implies that the gravy is a plenary third table item, while the latter implies that the gravy goes with the mashed potatoes as a subset thereof.

As people don't generally put gravy on sweet potatoes, the latter would seem more proper english.

 

[Concerned American]

Never heard of it, but I've been using it all my life. Consider the sentence, "I want to thank my parents, God and Trump." Without the comma, it sounds like my parents are God and Trump. With the Oxford comma, "I want to thank my parents, God, and Trump" makes it clear that God and Trump are separate entities from my parents.

The comma between God and Trump is redundant. e.g. you wouldn't say God and and Trump. However, as this sentence illustrates, delineation of lists and the replacement of the word "and" are not the only uses for a comma as it can also be used to insert a thought.

 

[Concerned American]

As people don't generally put gravy on sweet potatoes, the latter would seem more proper english.

Exactly.

 

[hjmick]

Yes.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

On the WWW no...I make up my own punctuation.

I wouldn't use it in a offical letter.

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Yes, my grammar goes wonky on the net.

I used to proofread legal depositions, and after you've tried to make grammatical sense of the way most people speak, especially in nerve-wracking situations like talking to lawyers, you will see that it's like herding cats. Legal stenographers have to do their best to make it legally acceptable.

I met my English friend online and we used to email frequently, and she told me I spoke and wrote better English than she did. Then we met and spoke to one another in person, and it was a whole different thing.

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.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

i find it sensible

avoids misunderstandings

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I was taught not to use it, but officially, there is no rule.

.

 

[Zebra]

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I was taught not to use it, but officially, there is no rule.

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in Germany it is also not the rule, but it is useful

 

[Mack The Finger]

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Yes, my grammar goes wonky on the net.

I used to proofread legal depositions, and after you've tried to make grammatical sense of the way most people speak, especially in nerve-wracking situations like talking to lawyers, you will see that it's like herding cats. Legal stenographers have to do their best to make it legally acceptable.

I met my English friend online and we used to email frequently, and she told me I spoke and wrote better English than she did. Then we met and spoke to one another in person, and it was a whole different thing.

Good Post !

I had a cyber friend from Moscow and he could read / understand English but couldn't speak it well because he is use to talking to other ESLs.

 

[Concerned American]

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Yes, my grammar goes wonky on the net.

I used to proofread legal depositions, and after you've tried to make grammatical sense of the way most people speak, especially in nerve-wracking situations like talking to lawyers, you will see that it's like herding cats. Legal stenographers have to do their best to make it legally acceptable.

I met my English friend online and we used to email frequently, and she told me I spoke and wrote better English than she did. Then we met and spoke to one another in person, and it was a whole different thing.

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I've found that to be true throughout my life. I can get my meaning across with much more clarity on paper than verbally. I am definitely not a public speaker.

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

i find it sensible

avoids misunderstandings

Oxford Is the British Harvard

Whoever invented the term "Oxford Comma" wanted to make it sound pretentious, stuffy, and nitpicking. Don't trust any of the counterfeit word-coiners.