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Random-est poll ever coming up. I am a strong believer in the Oxford comma, but a lot of people I know are strong believers against it. Neither is technically wrong. Just curious which is more popular.
(For those who don't know, it is the comma used before the last item in a list.)
Oxford comma:
I went to the grocery store to pick up bananas, apples, and grapes.
Or not:
I went to the grocery store to pick up bananas, apples and grapes.
I never use the Oxford comma. Honestly, I didn't even know what it was until this thread, lol.
I do a lot of writing for my job and and have a news journalism BA and have always been taught NOT to use the comma between the last two items. I guess newspapers don't use it because omitting it saves space.
I definitely always use an Oxford comma (although I never knew it was called that).
I thought I was the only one that used this!!! I always use the oxford comma! I think it's technically correct (at least from what i was taught in school). It annoys me when people do not use it properly, however, I tend to be a bit of a "grammar nazi".
I didn't know it had a specific name. I'm inconsistent about it. I know I'm supposed to do it, I just don't always do it. It's a stupid thing to be lazy about! LOL!
I NEVER do. Actually I used it all during highschool until one teacher took a mark off for using it. I haven't used it since!
oh it can be sooo confusing not to!
here's the classic wikepedia example:
To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.
does not quite mean the same thing as:
To my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.
Hahaha I have the Vampire Weekend song "Oxford Comma" stuck in my head now :-).
I'm a fan of it, but science is not. All my work writing is sans oxford comma (in addition to being boring ;-) )
@tranquility:ha. If I were you, I would use it all the time just to give the finger to that teacher!
@joy2011: EXACTLY. I feel that it is such a small effort to be abundantly more clear.
@SuperKate: Yea the Chicago standards for journalism (or whatever they're called) state not to use it. I never knew why but that is probably a good guess about saving space :)
@bakerella: you're not really SUPPOSED to. Technically neither is wrong. Both are acceptable and grammatically correct (unless you are writing for a specific purpose that follows a specific rule such as in journalism).
But I will say to the day I die.... I am a fan of the oxford comma haha.
I know this isn't actually an oxford comma but it still makes me giggle...
yes I do however I had no idea it was called that. I learned something new today thanks to you! :)
I never use an Oxford Comma... but in general am a total over user of punctuation in general in my work correspondance. :)
so THAT'S what an Oxford Comma is....!
I am inconsistent. My mom always said not to use it. She's my master proofreader for all things academic. I've always been taught in school not to use it, too! Hmm...interesting that people are saying they've always been taught TO use it, while others are taught NOT to!
@CorgiTales: omg I love that!
I use the Oxford comma, although I had one professor in college who made it a point to tell us never to use them in our papers!
my first job out of college was at a research think tank and i did a lot of writing and editing, and the oxford comma was a big part of their writing style guide, so i always use it! and when i edit other people's work, i add the commas in, not using it is one of my pet peeves :P
like, as an example, this would be confusing without an oxford comma:
"there will be three entrees: chicken, macaroni and cheese, and fish."
without it it'd be
"there will be three entrees: chicken, macaroni and cheese and fish."
mac n cheese with fish? yuck! and that's only 2 choices!
and @crayfish: now i have vampire weekend in my head too :)
I always used to but was told I was wrong! Now I know I wasn't wrong and it has a technical name... stupid college professors...
I used to always use it, but at work we CANNOT use it. So now, I use it about half the time when writing for non work purposes. It kind of looks weird with it (to me, since I'm used to work), but I do prefer using the comma!
I was always told it was incorrect. Save for finnaroo's macaroni and cheese example, though, the pause is implied in a sentence. "I went to the grocery store to pick up bananas, apples and grapes." Say it out loud and you still pause between "apples" and the "and."
@crayfish: lol me too!
I was taught that it was correct as well and I use it. I know some people consider it wrong but I think it just looks better.
I always use it because that was how I was taught. I never knew it was called an oxford comma. lol
I always, always use it. Why? It prevents ambiguity. I can't see a reason NOT to use it, unless you are writing for a newspaper where space is an issue.
Serial comma usage has the blessing of both the Chicago Manual of Style and (for you legal types) The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style. (Umm...yeah, I'm that nerdy.)
My favorite example is:
A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.
'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'
The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'
I always use it, but thought it wasn't really correct. I just feel like a comma is supposed to be there, so I use it. It doesn't bother me if one isn't there, it's just that I like using it.
@Neva: That was hilarious. You made my day! 
I always use them, never knew what it was called though!
I never, ever use it! I grew up with double spaces after periods & no Oxford commas. Is it ALA style? I can't remember...
I was taught to use it, but honestly I cannot remember if I do in everyday writing or not. I can tell you that I have used it when I have written press releases but I will not any longer. Does anyone know how spell check uses it? I grew up on a new spelling system that didn't work and I still cannot break down a sentence so spell check is esssential to me.
@quiche: I'm definitely a "double spaces after periods" girl as well. Sentences look too bunched together when you just use one, IMO.
I used to use double spaces after periods. Now that I'm a web developer, I don't. In HTML, unless you " ", it consolidates all the white-space in a row into just 1 space, whether you typed 1, 2, or 50 spaces.
I ALWAYS use it. I was taught to always include it, and I'm a serious over comma-er so it makes sense for me to throw it in regardless of if it is right or not. lol
"Does anyone know how spell check uses it?"
Spell check reads both ways as "correct".
Technically both are correct depending on which grammar book you use. And even then the oxford comma is never "incorrect", just "optional" according to some grammer guidelines. (At least from what I've seen/read.)
I'm a freelance journalist, so I always omit the Oxford comma, but if I had a choice, I'd use it. I think it helps with clarity and consistency. Even if you're following AP Style, which is what journalists use, you would include the Oxford comma if the series includes a conjunction in the concluding part of the series.
For example, you would write: I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast. You would not write: I had orange juice, toast and ham and eggs for breakfast
Many AP writers get that wrong, and it drives me crazy. It would be easier if we just kept it consistent. That said, both ommitting and including the Oxford comma are correct; it's just a matter of style.
@abbyful: Wait, are you not supposed to use the double space after a period anymore? When did that change?
I always use oxford comma. However, in the back of my mind, I keep remembering my English teacher telling me I'm not suppose to use it. LOL!
@tksjewelry - I don't know really. I just don't anymore because even if I do when I'm doing webpage stuff, it only reads as 1 space. I learned the double-space when I was learning to type, I think it's optional now (?).
@tksjewelry: Supposedly, the double space after a period rule was required because typewriters used monospace fonts and it made things easier to read. Now that no one uses typewriters OR monospace fonts, supposedly, the rule has no more reason to exist.
But I still use two spaces after a period. I learned to type that way and I LIKE it that way.
@abbyful: I always use it, but I learned to type on a typewriter. There was no such thing as "keyboarding" in HS back then. Yes I am that old, LOL.
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