Commas, Adjudicated, In Pennsylvania

Strunk liked the serial comma. I agree.

I agree with pleasure, alacrity, and wit.

My rule has been, with anything relating to the English language, that if it has the word "Oxford" attached to it (Oxford Comma, Oxford English Dictionary, etc.) then using it is the proper thing to do.

Oxfords AreTo Be Worn

Even in PA

Paul in PA

Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the Oxford Comma. This stems from growing up in some rather obscure, remote areas where commas were a rare commodity and only to be used when absolutely necessary. Even here in Bend the commas have to be shipped over the mountains from the Willamette Valley and the freight cost are exorbitant, especially during the winter when the mountain passes are treacherous and sometimes closed due to avalanches. The comma mongers just don’t like hauling their wares over dangerous roads. One false move and the resulting accident can damage their goods and they’ll be reduced to salvaging their inventory on the apostrophe market for pennies on the dollar.

> Personally, I’ve never been a fan of the Oxford Comma. This stems from growing up in some rather obscure, remote areas where commas were a rare commodity and only to be used when absolutely necessary. Even here in Bend the commas have to be shipped over the mountains from the Willamette Valley and the freight cost are exorbitant, especially during the winter when the mountain passes are treacherous and sometimes closed due to avalanches. The comma mongers just don’t like hauling their wares over dangerous roads. One false move and the resulting accident can damage their goods and they’ll be reduced to salvaging their inventory on the apostrophe market for pennies on the dollar.

Seems like it's always been comma feast or famine on that side of the mountains.

I can remember driving over said passes, traveling betwixt Eugene and Sunriver, in a Triumph Spitfire with the top down and skis in the passenger seat, smuggling a boot full of bootleg commas from the U of O English Department, unbeknownst to the authorities, to sell on the Eastern Oregon comma black-market.

I'm starting to believe my own dribble, now, about the sissification of Oregon.

We don't hide our commas under blankets in a trunk. We defiantly load ours into the front seat with us so anyone can see what we're doing.

> I'm starting to believe my own dribble, now, about the sissification of Oregon.
>
> We don't hide our commas under blankets in a trunk. We defiantly load ours into the front seat with us so anyone can see what we're doing.

Wasn't Kansas the first state in the union to pass an "open carry comma statute"?

.....Wasn't Kansas the first state in the union to pass an "open carry comma statute"?.....

That should be: The Union.

Not to be confused with those corrupt political machines that force nice American companies to relocate to Malaysia, Myanmar, and Madagascar.

You bet, BTW. We proudly carry our commas in plain sight for all to see and respect. We are careful, however, with our exclamation marks so as to not startle the delicate flowers from certain other States. We do have one sexist tradition here, however. Only females over a certain age are allowed to have ownership of periods.

> We do have one sexist tradition here, however. Only females over a certain age are allowed to have ownership of periods.

Only tilde reach a point later in life, about the same time their husband's doctor starts to inquire about checking his colon.

I believe that where commas are concerned, if you have any question as to whether to use one, don't.

I dislike the Oxford or Harvard comma.

If you wouldn't change tone or inflection vocally when reading aloud the text you are writing, then do not use a comma.

My rule. I edit when I am writing to see if I can leave commas out.
😛

Who gives an "F" about an Oxford Comma?

NSFW (song has bad words)

[flash width=560 height=315] http://www.youtube.com/v/P_i1xk07o4g?version=3&hl=en_US [/flash]

If the judge is so concerned about how things look, rather than substance, perhaps he might not want to let his frivolous doodling become public. It might not look so good to the landlord waiting for the court to get around to his eviction case so he can rent to someone who actually pays rent, or to the tenant who wants to force his landlord to fix the plumbing.

"If the judge is so concerned about how things look, rather than substance, perhaps he might not want to let his frivolous doodling become public"

Well yeah, you can say that, but if you fall back to that Wiki link, posted above, the few outstanding examples speak to the need for proper use of commas, to wit

"An example collected by Hayden was found in a newspaper account of a documentary about Merle Haggard:

Among those interviewed were his two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson, and Robert Duvall."

[...]

"The Times once published an unintentionally humorous description of a Peter Ustinov documentary, noting that "highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector". This would still be ambiguous if a serial comma were added, as Mandela could then be mistaken for a demigod, although he would be precluded from being a dildo collector."

These are just news articles for print, and the bit of confusion introduced doesn't hold the same weight as possible civil or criminal penalty.