3 ms·
Major organizations' style guides disagree with you. At least in the USA, the Oxford comma is under real and constant assault by the defenders of imprecise and
by mncolinlee 10y ago
Major organizations' style guides disagree with you. At least in the USA, the Oxford comma is under real and constant assault by the defenders of imprecise and ambiguous grammar. Whenever someone inevitably takes the side of these atrocious style guides, I inevitably pull out my Oxford comma insult, "I listened to [Complaining person], a serial killer and a hapless fool. However, no one could tell if I was speaking to one person or three."
- couchand 10y agoYour supposed slam dunk simply isn't. Take the same example modified twice: "I listened to [Complaining person], a serial killer, and a hapless fool. However, no one could tell if I was speaking to one person or two." Note that the phrase "a serial killer" could reasonably be read as an aside describing the first party. There is no silver bullet.