What are your thoughts on the Oxford (or Serial) comma?  

Please note: there are a few of us who feel very strongly about this… so be prepared if you are against it…

It's how I was taught in school to use it, so I am not aware of the reasoning of not including one on purpose (especially in the listing of three or more things in a sentence).

I have been known to be very loose in interpretation and memory when it comes to arbitrary things though. I hear what I write in my head as I write it…so I "listen" for where a natural pause would be.

I'm not even 100% sure what I was taught in school. I'm thinking that I was taught not to use it, because it would have been in English class, and they preferred MLA there (and MLA is anti-serial comma, though I think that may have changed recently).

In my more formal writing, I prefer to use it. In my informal writing, I'm actually a bit inconsistent; I tend to use it with lists longer than three items. With short lists, however, I will sometimes leave it out, unless doing so would change the meaning of my sentence (inset meme about Hitler and Stalin and strippers here), and make my meaning unclear.

I've actually relaxed a bit on grammar more recently, and this is one of those areas where, in casual writing (and the writing we do here in Rev is usually casual), whether one uses or does not use a serial comma doesn't matter, so long as the meaning of the sentence is clear… and most of the time, unless you're being really silly about it, the meaning is clear. Ultimately, the purpose of grammar and punctuation is to ensure clarity in writing. I'll still hurt you if you use the wrong your/you're in a sentence, but a serial comma? I suppose I can take it or leave it.

(Formal writing is another story, though. There, I use my serial commas and bust out the best grammar, no shortcuts or colloquialisms, etc. Because formal.)

Wait a minute…There's more than one type of comma? When the hell did that happen?

The Oxford (or serial) comma isn't another type of comma. In grammar, you use a serial/Oxford comma if you include a comma after the last item in a list (just before the "and"). Some style guides say you should not include this comma, while others say you should because it aids in clarity. For example:



More here on Wikipedia.

Hahaha. Definitely pro then. Thanks