Posted on 07/22/2011 10:38:30 AM PDT by nickcarraway
D A M M I T!
I just wrote a 15 page essay on the serial comma for a linguistics study I’m doing, and now this! I’m gonna have to talk to my advisor about this one.
/grammarNerdOff
The horror is upon us.
Keep fighting the good fight!
Today’s lazy people no longer care about grammar(and darn little aboute grampa)!
Indiana has decided not to require cursive writing in school . But then I see more and more people who turn on a computer ,bring up Word, and then retrieve the printout from down the hall ,rather than sim,ply jot a brief note on a pad.
Stupid idea. ‘a, b and c’ implies that ‘b and c’ together constitute some combined set that is analagous to the set a. ‘a,b, and c’ denotes three seperate sets that are each analagous to the other two.
I couldn’t sleep at night, worrying about dropping the comma years ago, hoping I would never get called on the carpet by my editor. Oh, what a relief, it is.
The comma: Always a hot topic in the Publication’s world - I had to get cured of my excessive comma abuse many years ago - now I hardly ever use them - hyphens and dashes are like Methodone to me now..........
Apples, oranges, and pears.
Apples and oranges, pens and pencils, and cakes and pies.
I learned to drop the comma before the word “and” while in college journalism courses. Of course, this was contrary to my previous writing education that used the Oxford serial rule so it was a hard convention to break. Later, in graduate school, I had to re-learn the serial comma when using APA style for writing course papers. My right middle finger gets twitchy now when typing any serial list.
I have used the Oxford comma my entire life (never knew it had a name though) and will continue too regardless of what Oxford thinks about it.
How did Oxford come to own the comma in the first place ?
This comma use change will not shake the foundation of language. I will certainly divide “wonks” on what is correct for the next 50 years. I will be long dead before this change is so entrenched that it is in 100% use. I think it may NEVER be in use, people propagate what they learned, and I learned the serial comma. Most English professors and teachers will stick with what they know. Serial comma will be learned for a long time.
I sooo agree!!! Dropping the comma is stupid.
Well screw Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard.
Good point. I find that makes for easier reading, since it’s obviously a list of similar elements.
I am so glad I’m not an editor or an English major..I would be on anxiety meds.
Yes, along with the use of an apostrophe to indicate the plural of a noun, as in “cantaloupe’s” or “hand grenade’s.” Arrrrgh!
I would suppose that the comma after the word, bargaining, would be proper, as the words are not related. But if they were related, like in 'anger and despair, you don't need the comma.
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