I'll just say this, never get between these people when drink has been taken

[cimorene]

Dear Brother Windows,

When I said that I prefer the Oxford comma and that there is debate about whether it should be used or not, the "debate" thing was an indication that in fact, neither way is definitively correct or incorrect. Both usages coexist. They compete. So an appropriate response to "I would use it" is not "You'd be wrong"; the whole point is that neither way is actually wrong. Also, I'm pretty sure that no non-native speaker of English is going to correctly correct my punctuation, ever. It's certainly never happened before. I was affectionately known as Grammar Cop within the family when I was a wee one with reason.

Lovingly but admittedly somewhat snootily,
Cim

ETA: On the subject of grammar, The Ghost of Christmas Future Perfect Passive.

Comments

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

ahahahah! that cartoon! ♥!

[flyingcheerio.livejournal.com]

I'm also a fan of the Oxford comma.
PS. Have you heard this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_i1xk07o4g

[vass]

While I agree that there is debate, and that neither usage is definitively correct, I too prefer the Oxford comma. And so do my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

You ought to read the wiki article. It's quite interesting - there's one situation where the Oxford comma can unintendedly create grammatical ambiguity: when it appears to create an appositive ("My mother, Ayn Rand, and God"). And it also provided a totally AWESOME example of one that was ambiguous both with and without. Not that this changes my position - it just proves that grammar should ultimately bend to eliminate ambiguity, which is why ironclad rules are silly.

[dreamnnightmare.livejournal.com]

I've heard 1 valid argument 4 omitting the oxford comma: saving ink and paper. But ultimately the saving is insufficient to justify the dorky comma-bereft construction.

IMNSHO

[cimness.livejournal.com]

Pshht, who uses INK and PAPER? Also - an additional comma probably only makes a text take more lines (aka paper) one time in a hundred, if that. In most fonts - because most fonts are not monowidth - it takes far less than the width of a character.