4 ms·
Really? On the contrary, I see sentences all the time that are desperately in need of an Oxford comma. Example: "The three target demographic groups for the n
by mdorazio 10y ago
Really? On the contrary, I see sentences all the time that are desperately in need of an Oxford comma. Example: "The three target demographic groups for the new product are fruit and vegetable lovers, vegan and paleo dieters, and reduced-meat health and fitness individuals." This sort of thing pops up in work documents frequently.
Any time you have categories that themselves include more than one item, an Oxford comma is really helpful.
- seanwilson 10y agoHow about this? "The three target demographic groups for the new product are 1) fruit and vegetable lovers 2) vegan and paleo dieters and 3) reduced-meat health and fitness individuals." Alternatively define a shorter name for each group for reuse. Not everyone even understands the Oxford comma either.
- mdorazio 10y agoYou've now interjected numbers in an otherwise word-only sentence, which is generally a no-no. You might as well just go for a bulleted list at that point since you're breaking the grammatical flow. But there are plenty of other examples besides mine where the entire sentence meaning changes based on that comma. For example, "Amanda found herself in the Winnebago with her ex-boyfriend, an herbalist and a pet detective." As another point, for me the Oxford comma makes reading generally easier because it's clear where a list ends. If I see ", and" then I know what follows is the last item without having to read ahead and figure out if there's more to come.