November 4, 2012

I support the Oxford comma.

With a highly divided election approaching, I thought I'd make my political stance clear: I support the Harvard, Oxford, and serial comma.

Consider this wish: "Live healthy, learn much, rock and roll." Super-stardom, or a rocking chair and rolling in your grave? Depends on how many things are in that list, right? For the Oxford comma camp there are three things, so "rock and roll"! For the non-comma there are four... "rock" and "roll" to you I guess.

In term of social acceptability, note that the Oxford Comma is the subject of a top-40 hit song, "ommission of serial comma" is not.

Before you dismiss me as an extremist, please note that I am forgiving in the case of the omission of the comma before the abbreviation "etc."