Posted on 03/16/2017 11:19:47 AM PDT by Timpanagos1
A class-action lawsuit about overtime pay for truck drivers hinged entirely on a debate that has bitterly divided friends, families and foes: The dreaded — or totally necessary — Oxford comma, perhaps the most polarizing of punctuation marks.
What ensued in The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and in a 29-page court decision handed down on Monday, was an exercise in high-stakes grammar pedantry that could cost a dairy company in Portland, Me., an estimated $10 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Give us the nutshell...I’m not giving hits to the NYT.
Oxford comma:
Today for lunch I had chicken, coffee, and peas.
No oxford comma:
Today for lunch I had chicken, coffee and peas.
I don’t use it. Maybe I should.
Well played!
If unintentional, it's the second comma in "I've heard of the comma, the colon, and the semi-colon."
I’ll admit, I’m an Oxford comma guy, but this ruling is pretty ridiculous.
I'm reminded of this recent article:
NY Dropping Teacher Literacy Test Amid Claims Of Racism (High Percentage Of Blacks & Hispanics Fail)
Here is everything about an Oxford Comma by Vampire Weekend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i1xk07o4g
The “Oxford Comma,” also known as the “American Comma,” separates the final two items in a list of three or more.
Without it: John bought bread, milk, eggs and pizza.
With it: John bought bread, milk, eggs, and pizza.
(John has snow in his weather forecast.)
The “yob’s comma” follows the subject of a sentence: “John, went to the store.”
Let’s eat, Grandma
Let’s eat Grandma
Commas save lives.
LOL!
Comma used after all the items in a list of three or more, except of course the last item, because after that comes the period.
With no Oxford comma:
My favorite presidents would be Washington, Lincoln, Reagan and Trump.
With Oxford comma:
My favorite presidents would be Washington, Lincoln, Reagan, and Trump.
The difference is the comma after Reagan. Now I want millions in overtime!
So, they win due to the lack of that comma but lose when the company might go out of business or lays off some of the drivers because of it?
Those are great examples but a more appropriate one is this:
“I leave my $millions divided equally to Tom, Joe and Bill”
or
“I leave my $millions divided equally to Tom, Joe, and Bill.”
In the first case it can be (and has been) argued that you meant 50% to Tom, and 50% to Joe and Bill.
In the 2nd case it is more clear you mean 33% each to the 3 of them.
This is how lawyers think AND how they rack up more billable hours so THEY end up with the $millions.
I wrote professionally on various newspapers 25 years.
I can think of only one editor I worked under who insisted on the Oxford comma — and he may have been the best of the lot.
Personally, I always used it unless specifically told not to.
Multiple inheritance cases have dealt with this exact issue during and it normally falls in favor of those listed first and to the detriment of those next to the ‘’and in the series if there is no comma.
It’s the “extra” comma in a list. Some people write:
I like a, b and c.
Others write:
I like a, b, and c.
The second comma is the Oxford comma.
The first sentence can be read that the writer only likes b when it’s combined with c. The second indicates that he likes each of the three on its own.
Beautiful! - the rhino’s are named Washington and Lincoln!
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