I'm a professional writer and all of the people in my office are against the Oxford. It is flat out infuriating...

I'm a professional writer and all of the people in my office are against the Oxford. It is flat out infuriating. How do you folks feel about it?

i'm also a professional writer
i tend not to use it unless i am doing something like making a list of things that already has an "and" in between. for example

famous bands of the 90s include blur, oasis and pulp (no oxford comma)
famous comedy double acts include laurel and hardy, morecombe and wise, and reeves and mortimer (oxford comma)

it's not a precise science

who gives a fuck about an oxford comma

but in your first sentence, it seems to group the last two items and isolate the first item. I just think it's confusing looking. or it sounds like you're talking to someone named "oasis and pulp."

obviously context is important. if the meaning is ambiguous i recast the sentence. it is unlikely that i would include lines of dialogue in the technical documentation that i write.

>I am a professional writer

It. Is. Always. Necessary. I HATE people not using it. I FUCKING HATE IT. Thanks OP, I needed an outlet for this issue more than I realised.

I support the Oxford comma. Please use it. Thank you.

It can only improve a sentence and never hider it. There's no valid reason not to use it. Unless you're some writer going for "aesthetic."

I can put fifty commas If I want to
O Captain my Captain

do you have a million confirmed types?

It is literally objectively incorrect in English to use the Oxford Comma.

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I've seen those English dramas too!

but seriously. I'll fight a bitch about the oxford comma.

Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family, and her dog.

Is this Oxford coma? What's the difference between Oxford and regural one?

This is the oxford comma in ()

>I like to drink water, juice, soda(,) and milk.

Comma coming before the adjective is a Oxford comma. OK, you learn something every day

>english not my native

>i'm also a professional writer
>i

to be fair, the nuances of online communications aren't comparable to other writing.

This is why no one takes English seriously!

>lingua franca
>no one takes it seriously

I was joking.
It's just funny that people are so ardent on the use of the Oxford comma when it doesn't make a difference in 990 out of 1000 cases. I guess everyone needs a few quirky hardline stances for reasons of mental health.

Source?

apply commas based on the sound

anything else is autism

yes, there are a few of us on here. i'm mainly a technical writer with a couple of sidelines

my output on Veeky Forums is not the same standard as my professional work

nope. most style guides say that it is occasionally essential or useful to the reader. for example this is from the Guardian style guide (which is generally well regarded, whatever you think of the Guardian itself):
>a comma before the final “and” in lists: straightforward ones (he ate ham, eggs and chips) do not need one, but sometimes it can help the reader (he ate cereal, kippers, bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade, and tea).

>Sometimes it is essential: compare
>I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis, and JK Rowling
>with
>I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis and JK Rowling

Noun not adjective

>the sentence still doesn't make sense with the oxford comma

Before the 'and'.

>his language does not have rigorous punctuation rules
It's just a short step from here to speaking ebonics.

>religiously adhering to style guides
>your writing holds merit
pick 1 and only 1

Really though OP, I completely agree with you on the Oxford comma, its incessant omission drives me up the wall. I personally believe commas should be used as tools to control the flow of your writing, primarily used for denoting where pauses would go if your words were spoken out loud in a vernacular manner.

With oxford comma (commas denoting pauses): I like to drink water, juice, and soda.

How the sentence is spoken: I like to drink water (pause) juice (pause) and soda.


Over the last century or so, we've gone from writers utilizing punctuation as tools to improve the elegance and the coherence of their writing: inserting commas where naturally you'd expect a pause, using semi colons to denote a higher level of sentence organization, the use of colons and hyphens for emphasis; to writers avoiding all punctuation and grammar unless it is absolutely necessary under the grammar doctrine they follow. Consequently, people tend to subscribe to doctrines which promote lazy writing with minimal punctuation.

Why are Americans so inbred?

The greatest works in the English language were written in the 18th and 19th centuries, when grammar and punctuation rules were much less rigid than they are now.

>>prescriptive grammarians in 2017

Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking, her family and her dog.

You're supposed to use it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a cucked faggot. Read Strunk and White, faggot.

>BE not using single quotation marks in the example
fucking trash

I tend to use single quotation marks for short phrases or words, and double quotation marks for longer excerpts.

It feels weird and wrong to not use it, personally. I could see omission as a form of style in fiction or poetry but otherwise I feel I have to reread the last few items of the list because I am expecting an oxford.