Replies

I was watching the trial and I saw two perverts, 0vomit, and Hitlery.

I was watching the trial and I saw two perverts, 0vomit and Hitlery.

In the first case I am discussing 4 people. In the second case only 2.
_________________________________

Ovomit and Hitlery, those perverts, were at the trial.

Those perverts, Ovomit and Hitlery, were on trial.

I watched those perverts, Ovomit and Hitlery, at the trial.

I was watching the trial of those perverts, Ovomit and Hitlery.

I was watching the trial and I saw those perverts: Ovomit and Hitlery.

My readers can count. 2 people are listed. The insertion of *two* is unnecessary and one of 2 reasons I see for the Oxford comma in your fun exercise. The other reason is the non-specific *the*. Using *those*, instead of *the*, increases specificity, ruling out confusion over the number of perverts.

My habit of leaving out the *and* (& Oxford comma) is mostly for lists of 3 or more(from WIP):

“Histories, novels, films, some authentic, some romanticized, others pure lying garbage,abound on every human world.”

“...the strongest, the cleverest, the most ruthless rose to power.”

I do utilize the Oxford comma and the conjunction when needed for clarity. If the sentence is clear, I leave out the comma preceding the conjunction. I will re-write for clarity. I recognize that I tend toward overly-long lists. I had to go through 8 pages in 12-point to find the examples, so I do attempt *accepted* usage. Sometimes the choices are a question of voice.

Fun with editing! Nerd mode off.

Thanks, g. I’ve neglected my own work since this thread began. You made me pull it up for examples. I did find Oxford commas, as well as clear sentences that left it out. Still feel rebellious about Oxford, though. It’s visceral.

Haha!

Great post! ThanQ.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I LOVE Oxford commas and I only just now found out what they were. It is a visceral love indeed.