Jose Carillo's English Forum

English Grammar and Usage Problems => Use and Misuse => Topic started by: BenVallejo on August 21, 2011, 12:27:13 PM

Title: Oxford comma
Post by: BenVallejo on August 21, 2011, 12:27:13 PM

What do you think of initiatives to do away with the serial comma a.k.a as the Oxford comma?

Title: Re: Oxford comma
Post by: Joe Carillo on August 21, 2011, 06:03:13 PM

I am a consistent user of the serial comma in both my private correspondence and published work, so I think the growing practice of doing away with it is ill-advised. I gave my reasons for sticking with it in “Why I consistently use the serial comma,” an essay that I wrote for my English-usage column in The Manila Times in July of 2009. I subsequently posted that essay here in the Forum in December of 2010. You may want to check it out by clicking this link to “Using the serial comma isn’t just a matter of stylistic preference.” (http://josecarilloforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=1111.0) 

Long live the serial comma!