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In one case I discourage it as well, because with it you can't write the funniest sentence ever composed: "I would like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God."
by maw 14y ago
In one case I discourage it as well, because with it you can't write the funniest sentence ever composed: "I would like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God."
Otherwise, no strong opinion, although I usually use it myself.
- Stratoscope 14y agoAnd here's a classic joke that works best with the serial comma: "There are two hard problems in computing: naming things, cache expiration, and off by one errors." The comma indicates a pause when spoken, and you need that pause in this particular joke.
- stephencanon 14y agoOn the other hand, with the serial comma you get "I would like to thank my mother, Ayn Rand, and God."
- maw 14y agoTrue! And it's also very funny. (But a shade less so than the parents sentence.) Maybe our descriptivist/purist friends should start a campaign to bring back the dative.