What's An Oxford Comma

[sandyRoe]

?

[Gromit]

This, and that.

[bednobs]

it's the extra comma that is sometimes put in a list before the and
birds have feathers, beaks, and tails

[Toorak]

The last comma before the conjunction.

E.g. I bought some bread, butter and jam.

With Oxford comma becomes

I bought some bread, butter, and jam.

I think it’s more of an American usage

[bednobs]

in my example, the comma after beaks is the oxford comma

[sandyRoe]

OK. Thanks Gromit, bednobs, and Toorak.

[douglas9401]

Spooky, I looked this up 5 minutes ago.

[douglas9401]

Anyway, back to jargon and the non-use thereof.

Looks like we have another roaster at the controls.

[Peter Pedant]

no one has covered the standard one
god, is it by Liz Truss ( spotted the oxford comma didja)

a liddle pause to change the meaning

Koala eats shoots and leaves
X eats, shoots, and leaves

the comma shows the difference between shooting and leaving

[jno]

teh Guardian's headline: Coffey urges staff to be positive, be precise, and not use Oxford commas

[Peter Pedant]

I thought it was civil service speak
to tell the Mandarins not to concentrate on grammar
but substance

oxford comma in schools
you will have to teach the kids to write first ! - ter daah!

[jno]

Coffey failed her exams at Oxford, which may have influenced her war on local punctuation

[Peter Pedant]

it is v v diff to fail an exam at Oxbridge

[barry1010]

If I didn't use an Oxford comma here you would assume I was William or Harry.

I thank my parents, Charles, and Diana

[barry1010]

To avoid confusion and the Oxford comma I would write

I thank Charles, Diana and my parents

[THECORBYLOON]

Since there is nothing to suggest the named individuals were or are royals, it would take a huge leap to reach the suggested conclusion.

Even if some might think that, if it were written as, "I thank Charles, Diana and my parents", there would be no confusion.

[Peter Pedant]

yeah in a list, the final noun does not have a comma

wheat, barley and oats

but the comma is used for meaning when it isnt a list. ( eats grass, shoots and leaves)

Mark Twain used no punctuation, and listed them at the end of his book. He added, scatter these to taste.

He was also the first to submit a book in type script

god, can you imagine copying out Pride and prej by hand as a fair copy?

[Old_Geezer]

It's the obviously needed comma that allows the reader to pause where the speaker would have paused. Sometimes it avoids confusion where it would otherwise be present.

[Stargazer]

An Oxford comma is the name given to a comma placed before the final word "and" in a sentence but it is unnecessary and we do not use it any more.

[jno]

nobody said it was easy, PP, but apparently she spent too much time rowing

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm

[Peter Pedant]

Oh, at Cambridge, you were delegated to an ordinary ( I can name one High Court judge who ploughed Land law)
and thereafter - ord decl honours ( candidates for an ordinary degree declared to have achieved honours standard)

You got a degree if you kept nine terms

Oxford Chemistry degree in those day was four years...