• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Dear Sabrina

  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Beauty
  • Thinking
  • Miscellany
  • About
    • Now
You are here: Home / Thinking / Do You Use the Oxford Comma?

Do You Use the Oxford Comma?

December 20, 2016 By Jodi

German typewriter

I love grammar. In elementary school, I loved having English homework and doing all the exercises, paying attention to exactly where apostrophes and commas go and how, exactly, to use a semi-colon. (And I use too many of them, according to my search engine optimization plugin.) Which means, of course, that I love the Oxford comma.

What is the Oxford comma? It's the comma that comes before the conjunction (e.g. and, or)  in a list of three or more items. Supporters of the Oxford comma believe that it provides clarity, and I wholeheartedly agree. Here are some standard examples:

"Highlights of Peter Ustinov's global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector."
"To my parents, Ayn Rand and God."

Both of these instances make it sound as though the first person in the list—Nelson Mandela or my parents—is defined by the two list items following it. That is to say, Nelson Mandela is an 800-year-old demigod who also happens to collect dildos. And in the second: my parents were Ayn Rand and God (a fascinating if troubling combination). Using the Oxford comma makes it clear that each item is separate.

I read a funny post about this recently, which I recommend taking a couple minutes to skim. I liked this paragraph in particular:

“And” is one of the most used words in the world. It is magical; it connects two separate things, like peanut butter and jelly, or wine and cheese, or Oreos and pickles. The Oxford comma keeps separate the things that should be separate. Otherwise it would be gross and confusing, like this: “Please pick some some apples, ice cream, a tub of lard and chocolate.” A tub of lard and chocolate?! Gross! In some situations, it may be more serious. I saw this in a nonprofit’s bylaws: “The officers of the organization shall include a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.” So wait, is that three people, with the secretary and treasurer a combination position? That’s not unheard of, but why confuse people when a simple comma will add so much clarity?

And this:

The Oxford Comma is not just practical, it is also aesthetically pleasing. Read these two sentences, exactly the same except one has an Oxford Comma, and one does not. With the OC: “Please make sure we have nametags, markers, and sticky dots for the retreat.” Without the OC: “Blah blah blah, doo dee dee doo derp derpity derp-dee-doo.” See?

(It's always good to add a little tongue-in-cheek humor to the utter seriousness of grammar.)

Some argue that the comma doesn't actual clear up the meaning of the entire sentence. In the first example, if the Oxford comma is used, Nelson Mandela could still be an 800-year-old demigod, but is excluded from being a dildo collector. However, my choice in such instances (when the item following another on a list does in fact describe the previous item, and is not another list item itself), is to clarify with—you guessed it—more punctuation. So, if Mandela were a demigod, I would write:

Highlights of Peter Ustinov's global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela (an 800-year-old demigod) and a dildo collector.
or
Highlights of Peter Ustinov's global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela—an 800-year-old demigod—and a dildo collector.

I find this to be a reasonable solution because I like wielding my punctuation, though I do understand that some might find this cumbersome. Both parenthesis and the em-dash can be used to set off a definition or clarifying phrase, so I'll stick with the comma and throw in some other lines and curvy shapes to add clarity when necessary.

By the way, does anyone know what to call the whole colon—double-space—capital letter debacle? I hate it, so I'd like to know what to call it. Use of a colon, by definition, means that only one sentence is being written; so why the hell would you capitalize a word mid-sentence?

What are your grammar pet peeves? (Other than the wanton and almost always incorrect use of the word "literally", which should in fact set your undies ablaze—figuratively.)

Photo by Florian Klauer

PS. Even though I've proofread this post, it seems highly likely to me that the first post I write about grammar will contain the most grammar mistakes and typos of anything I've ever published. So do please kindly alert me if/where I have made silly or grave mistakes. (Note: I've already had to correct two instances where I write "common" instead of "comma". Embarrassing!)

Share this:

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related

Filed Under: Thinking Tagged With: commas, grammar, Oxford comma

Previous Post: « Happiness Project: Building Community Through Winter Traditions
Next Post: Celebrating the Winter Solstice »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kristin

    December 22, 2016 at 2:52 am

    I really appreciate this post. Like you, I am huge fan of the Oxford comma. In fact, I am such a huge fan that I once edited our entire Staff Handbook to reinsert them where my colleague had intentionally left them out. It felt so good!

    Reply
    • Jodi

      December 22, 2016 at 9:32 am

      Ha! I had a friend comment on FB that her organization had recently made an official decision not to use it, and it drives her crazy every day!
      And, like you, given the opportunity, I would absolutely edit a staff handbook or any other material to add in Oxford commas and fix any other mistakes. I love doing that.

      Reply
  2. Joshua

    February 28, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    Yes, but where do you fall in the great s-apostrophe debate? When making a possessive out of a word that ends in "s," do you add the extra "s" or let the apostrophe hang out there on its own? Is it "Moses's tent" or "Moses' tent"?

    Reply
    • Jodi

      March 2, 2017 at 12:14 pm

      Well, obviously, I fall in the camp of using the s-apostrophe-s when the noun is singular and the hanging apostrophe (s-apostrophe) when the noun is plural. That's the rule, isn't it?

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Jodi

I just repatriated from Sweden to the US with my British husband and three young kids. I started this site while living in Sweden to build the conversations and community we've had with loved ones around the world, and to create a space to share thoughts about life, beauty, motherhood, and everything else. read more →

Connect & Follow

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Receive the weekly newsletter

* indicates required
/ ( mm / dd )

Recent Posts

Have You Heard of Free Forest School?

October 1, 2018 By Jodi Leave a Comment

Toddler walking in forest with stick

A while back, forest kindergartens and preschools—like those in Germany and Switzerland—started to make waves in the US and the UK. You can read the links to learn more, but the basic idea is that preschool or kindergarten is held outside. All the time. In all seasons. Kids are outside in nature with no traditional...

Read More

Adult Supervision (not) Required

March 8, 2019 By Sonia Ruyts Leave a Comment

small_animals_book_ruyts

Chances are you have a memory of something you did as a child that made you feel free, independent, brave, capable. Something that society has now decided is unsafe. Where once children were allowed to play outside unsupervised, such an action is now perceived as negligent and possibly criminal.

Why I Don't Tell My Kids to Smile For Pictures

August 1, 2016 By Jodi 8 Comments

girl-swinging

Since my older son's birth, I've kept a blog for family and friends where I try to share a few photos of the kids every day. Like most parents these days, I've taken thousands of photos of my kids - at least. But there's one thing I do differently.

Winter in Sweden: the Basics

December 15, 2016 By Jodi 4 Comments

Fire outside cafe making for a cozy Swedish winter

It's time to talk about winter in Sweden. A while back I wrote about summer in Sweden, essentially saying that it's like heaven. And winter? Well, winter can feel like the opposite; or if not quite like hell, then rather like a long, slow slog uphill through waist-deep snow in the dark with clouds covering...

Read More

Categories

  • Beauty
  • Family
  • Happiness
  • Life in Sweden
  • Miscellany
  • Thinking

Follow me on Bloglovin'

Follow

Instagram

Footer

About Dear Sabrina

Welcome! Dear Sabrina is a lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man, if men read lifestyle blogs). I hope that visiting this site gives you something to think about, makes you laugh, or shows you something new. If you want to further connect, find me on one of networks below or send an email.
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think. More about me…

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2022 · Jodi Elliott

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.