Yes I use an Oxford comma, though i feel like I'm in the minority. I don't know why people don't use it more. Some claim it increases the "flow" of a sentence which is just bull shit for the reason in OP
But it does have a vocative feel to it. And even besides that, you could also take it to mean that it's toast-and-orange juice, i.e., they made juice out of both the toast and orange.
People who don't use Oxford commas are pants-on-head-moronic.
It's a silly example to get the point across, a more realistic example of a sentence that could be misread without the oxford comma is >Mark, John, and James went to the store. >Mark, John and James went to the store.
The first is example is telling something that three people went to the store. The second example is telling Mark who went to the store.
if you're talking to mark why the frick would he mistake himself as a subject in Your sentence? This is the same level of contrived reasoning as the "literal" police thinking tower of babel level mayhem will ensue if people didn't speak 100% unambiguously
> This means A AND B and C
No, moron, this makes absolutely no sense. That would be A, and B and C. >A, B and C
and >A, B, and C
and >A and B and C
All means exactly the same thing. English speakers are morons and obsess over a non-issue that functional languages don’t ever think about.
10 months ago
Anonymous
>Milk, coffee and sugar >Milk, coffee, and sugar >Milk and coffee and sugar.
I work in a profession where we send lots of emails to Brits (I am American). If you don't use an Oxford Comma the Brits WILL combine the ultimate and penultimate items in the list. Americans will confirm that they're separate, Brits will just assume that it's some kind of bizarre mish-mash of the two.
Yes, Brits are the ones who are most against the Oxford Comma, yes this is just as absurd as putting a "u" in random words or adding an "e" at the end of ever word that ends in "r".
Keep the comma, drop the 'and'. >I had eggs, toast, orange juice.
The 'and' is bloat. Change my mind.
List ending signifier, tells the reader not to expect more
that's what the period is for
Not always the case.
"And" is for spoken lists. Yes, it is superfluous in writing, but it's not for writing, it's for speech.
I had no idea the second option was even a thing. Why call it the "Oxford Comma" instead of just calling it correct grammar.
Because in spoken language you can tell what the last item in the list is because it follows "and". In writing, however, you can't do that. In pre-modern English (and European writing as a whole) conventions regarding lists weren't fixed. The non-Oxford-Comma method is a holdover of that, and is meant to mimic speech. Think of "and" as a spoken comma.
>this is just as absurd as putting a "u" in random words or adding an "e" at the end of ever word that ends in "r"
It's the British way of acknowledging etymology, which Americans are too uncultured to care about.
10 months ago
Anonymous
Like adding an H to "Thames" to make it look Greek?
10 months ago
Anonymous
I thought that was a hold over from the "thorn"?
10 months ago
Anonymous
wouldnt that make it the Yames
10 months ago
Anonymous
Kek, calling it this now. Shout out to that one anon who introduced me to pronouncing Keats to rhyme with Yeats and wike wersa
10 months ago
Anonymous
But then you'd create conflict like
"Gregory tames ferrets on the banks of the Tames"
There are plenty of situations where grammar and punctuation aren't necessary to get the point across. It doesn't meant there isn't a point to using it.
The comma separates each item in a list. You should only omit the comma before an and if there is a pairing, such as: >I use my computer for gaming, Facebook and Twitter, work, and school.
If the pairing were at the end of the list, you would use "and" before Facebook after the comma.
It's a silly example to get the point across, a more realistic example of a sentence that could be misread without the oxford comma is >Mark, John, and James went to the store. >Mark, John and James went to the store.
The first is example is telling something that three people went to the store. The second example is telling Mark who went to the store.
if you're talking to mark why the frick would he mistake himself as a subject in Your sentence? This is the same level of contrived reasoning as the "literal" police thinking tower of babel level mayhem will ensue if people didn't speak 100% unambiguously
>Some claim it increases the "flow" of a sentence
"Frick! I was on a roll but then this one comma just happened. Literally wtf??"
Honestly, these people shouldn't be alive.
Saying "an" twice just seems unnecessarily weighty and stupid.
10 months ago
Anonymous
It's sturdy. Robust.
10 months ago
Anonymous
I stand by my comment. It's unnecessary. You're writing an email to someone, not authoring a novel. The style is irrelevant. The less words, the better. Economy of speech.
10 months ago
Anonymous
Ok.
Tom Sneed
Deputy Project Manager
9051425565
10 months ago
Anonymous
Yes.
Joe Feed
Director
"Do what you can with what you have."
10 months ago
Anonymous
>I stand by my comment. It's unnecessary. You're writing an email to someone, not authoring a novel. The style is irrelevant. The less words, the better. Economy of speech.
I maintain my argument; it’s redundant. You're writing an email, be economical.
10 months ago
Anonymous
I stand by my comment. It's unnecessary. You're writing an email to someone, not authoring a novel. The style is irrelevant. The less words, the better. Economy of speech.
fricking nerds
10 months ago
Anonymous
If you use a semicolon in an email or god forbid any turns of phrase like "per se" you're liable to get beat up in the parking lot.
10 months ago
Anonymous
Anthony lathered his naked pale flesh in cooking oil, "I will do it," he said, striking a match, "if you d-" and he shrieked for the match had caught a nipple hair and singed his teat rather badly. Suddenly his entire body burst into flames. He collapsed in a shrieking dancing heap of bacon bits.
10 months ago
Anonymous
That's what I just said. Removing the second "an" WOULD be economical. And why did you use a semicolon in one sentence and a comma for a similar construction? Do you have eyes? That's a glaring inconsistency. I can proofread your emails for you if you'd like.
[...]
fricking nerds
You don't even know. I bought the Cambridge Grammar of the English language. Try me, b***h.
>from most words in regular use
Okay, like which words? I've studied German and am fluent in reading it.
10 months ago
Anonymous
Daß to dass is the one we were discussing.
10 months ago
Anonymous
But you didn't specify that...?
No, I'm not the 'an' guy.
I think the repetition is effective. It evokes the repetitive chewings and swallowings involved in breakfast. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetition_(rhetorical_device) if you're not familiar -- and it seems you're clearly not.
If you wished to avoid the repetition, I would suggest: >I had eggs, and ate toast, and drank orange juice.
I'm familiar with repetition. Please don't be patronizing and link me to a Wikipedia page. That's cute.
Again, your example sentence is unnecessarily repetitive and tedious. If you want to be pedantic without being stupid, you would just write it thus: >I had eggs along with toast and orange juice.
10 months ago
Anonymousn
I'm literally laughing at how wrong you are. I'm laughing at the misplaced confidence of your post. I would be extremely embarrassed if I were you.
>I had eggs along with toast and orange juice.
This is absurd. You're describing someone simultaneously pouring eggs, toast, and orange juice into their mouth. A repulsive image, and a misleading one.
However, I think I have come up with the most elegant solution to the problem: >Eggs I had, and toast and orange juice.
10 months ago
Anonymous
That's not it at all. Back to barracks with you, Kinch. Not it at all. >Eggs I had
What is this? A Shakespearean play?
10 months ago
Anonymous
>Back to barracks with you, Kinch.
Ooh, it burns!
10 months ago
Anonymous
but this convention is the one that would actually make the ß useless. the way it is now in german is that ß signifies a long vowel.
I consider your writing "I consider your writing "you putting" instead of "your putting" a typo" instead of "I consider your writing "you putting" instead of "your putting" to be a typo" to be a typo.
10 months ago
Anonymous
i think you should consider going to therapy for severe autism
that thought occurred to everyone that saw that post in the last 5 hours but we all had the restraint not to post something so inane. all of us except you.
The eggs are on the toast or consumed together, they are a single entity while the orange juice stays separate and is not consumed with the eggs and toast but along the eggs and toast. Serial ands is ambiguous and leaves open the possibility that the consumer dumped the orange juice on the eggs and toast. Both have their uses but leave it to a McCarthy gay to miss the nuance. Ambiguity is not always wanted and McCarthy avoided such ambiguity for good reason, we always know the context of his ands.
Yeah. Recently, I have been making a conscious effort to structure my lists in a logical manner. I group together items that belong to the same category, such as eggs and toast, while keeping separate or different group items, like orange juice, listed independently. >I had eggs and toast, orange juice.
correct version:
I had Eggs with Toast, and some Orange Juice.
I had Eggs, with a pinch of salt and a dash of hot sauce, with some Toast, and some Orange Juice, with a splash of Vodka.
Is there any hope of bringing the ß back? My German girlfriend assures me it wasn‘t removed from most words in regular use because of an insidious anglo plot but I‘m not sure I believe her.
Why not just get rid of all punctuation then? Frick commas, right? Who needs them? If we're getting rid of the most important comma, the Oxford comma, might as well do away with all of them. Let people figure it out for themselves, right?
wow, chances are you're a grown man who hasn't mastered his literacy - and you're in a place of higher education.
https://i.imgur.com/OJ1h9fw.jpg
Does IQfy like the oxford comma?
Yes I use an Oxford comma, though i feel like I'm in the minority. I don't know why people don't use it more. Some claim it increases the "flow" of a sentence which is just bull shit for the reason in OP
you've almost convinced me to adopt this just out of spite ... I'm thinking that other languages don't have punctuation in the first place and they manage quite well.. so either this is true:
Why not just get rid of all punctuation then? Frick commas, right? Who needs them? If we're getting rid of the most important comma, the Oxford comma, might as well do away with all of them. Let people figure it out for themselves, right?
Your professor is a moron.
>Why not just get rid of all punctuation then? Frick commas, right
which it could be
or
using the oxford comma allows ESL to better understand. English is kind of a mess to structure to begin with, even if it's written by someone who actually can write to a reasonable basic early 1700's level.
>>my professor
His breath reeked of cheap beer, and he sat beside me, slurring his speech as he attempted to convey his reasoning, "look," he said, "you and I both know it's right, but you've got to think of them," and he offered me a swig from his flask which I declined, "who do you mean, 'them'?" I asked. He wiped the whiskey from his lips on his jacket sleeve, "you know, 'them', the American Black folk," and he added, "of any colour."
"One day..." he stammered, "we- we'll take back the colonies and bomb them."
That is so bad. Are you the guy who wrote the second "an"? That is so repetitive and redundant. No one would even assume there that you're talking to a fricking piece of toast. >had, had, and had
What the frick.
I think the repetition is effective. It evokes the repetitive chewings and swallowings involved in breakfast. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetition_(rhetorical_device) if you're not familiar -- and it seems you're clearly not.
If you wished to avoid the repetition, I would suggest: >I had eggs, and ate toast, and drank orange juice.
10 months ago
Anonymous
Ah you're the guy that doesn't proofread his posts. We all know you.
OH NO NO NO NO
Now some smug redditor is going to draw a cartoon of a man, anthropomorphic toast, and anthropomorphic orange juice sitting around a table eating eggs!
>mfw swiping right on the 1,000,000th woman's profile in three days that references the oxford comma while thinking about how if she matches i will have to pretend she's not an unoriginal dullard for an entire evening, and perhaps, if we're lucky, through an entire marriage and life together
>punctuation thread which actually offers content slowly drifts out of the catalog >punctuation thread which only offers memes and hot takes stays on first page
IQfy is just reveling in its own failure at this point and has no desire to be more than a failure.
Using the oxford comma becomes a standard thing if you use it as if you're actually 'talking' when writing. It's a little pause in your talking to break up the rhythm.
Without >I went to the store and bought some juice and went home and drank the juice.
or >I went to the store. I bought some juice. I went home. I drank the juice.
or >I went to the store where I bought some juice after which I went home and drank it.
With:
I went to the store, bought some juice, went home, and then drank it.
or
I went to the store [PAUSE] bought some juice [PAUSE] went home [PAUSE] and drank it.
The difference between the great writers and the average writer is that you should have a 'feeling' for what you want to say, and then you're pouring that into text via writing. (PS: I used an oxford comma there (and here too), did you notice? Doesn't it sound nice? Yeah, that's what it's for.
I always used to use the Oxford comma as a child, but they taught us in school not to use it, so now I seldom, if *ever,* use it immediately prior to "and;" also, I use semi-colons in just about every sentence I can (and parenthesis -- or double-hyphens -- as a sort of "frick you" to everything ~~*THEY*~~ stand for), and (and that was one of the few instances I'll ever use anything like an "Oxford Comma") I nest my punctuation *inside* of said parenthesis, as you can see... oh, and I also like to use ellipsis (just like that) and write run-on sentences, just like John Ralph Reuel Tolkien.
English major here, currently studying for a PhD in applied linguistics. There's a common saying: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". But I'm afraid that there is only one objectively correct way of writing this sentence, and it is as follows:
>"I had: eggs; toast; (and orange juice)."
The eggs and the toast are separate items contained within one section of the breakfast, namely the "food" section. Technically the author could have had the eggs as a liquid, i.e., egg yolks in a glass. However, we will ignore that potentiality for the moment. So, the eggs and toast are syntactically united in the same portion of the sentence, but separated only to the extent that they are acknowledged as unique ontological objects. The inclusion of the orange juice in the breakfast (which, let's face it, wouldn't be much of a breakfast without some good ol' fashioned "OJ") really does present a challenging predicament for the literary purist. "D-Do I j-just list it?" he asks himself, looking away from his computer screen wide-eyed like a student confronted with a particularly difficult exam question while seated in a large hall populated mainly by his fellow students, all of whom seem to be working through the paper with ease. "No!" the answer thunders, as an exam invigilator (often a PhD student, former teacher, part-time teacher or an individual with some experience in an academic setting; which is to say someone who should have some kind of insight into the proper deployment of grammar and syntax) slams down a rolled-up newspaper on his small desk (the kind which a student may only enter sideways, and may only exit in the same fashion, as though he were a stage actor preparing for a role which involves moving in and out of a vehicle, and whose superiors have decided that such a desk would be appropriate for him to use while the more elaborate fake-car set design is being manufactured for use in performances proper. The student recoils, his lips a-tremble, looking up with the terror of an Old Testament first-born. "W-what then sh-should I do?" he barely voices. Well, as I have said: the answer is simple: "I had: eggs; toast; (and orange juice)". I whisper this to him, bending down just enough so that my C-cups brush his shoulder. I whisper it slowly, watching through hooded eyes as he obediently writes down the answer, which will earn him not just the top answer for that particular question (one or two alternative forms of the sentence would have done the same), but will compel the examiner marking the paper to make a prolonged, cartoonish "huuuh?" sound as his eyebrows literally float up his forehead and into the air above his head, and rush (his first few footfalls skidding from the floor, precluding any forward movement, again in a cartoonish manner (one might imagine a kind of gradually increasing whooping sound as he does this)) to inform his friend, a professor of advanced logic and an expert in matters linguistic about the precoscious feat.
I had eggs, toast, milk, orange, juice, bacon, butter, frosted grahams, a spoon, an egg cup, a plate, a bottle of hot sauce, salt, a knife, television, slippers, newspaper, dog.
his tongue lolled from his mouth, "As if anyone is thick enough to interpret the latter sentence that way," what was he talking about? He had stopped talking. IN fact several minutes had passed before he returned and said with no context whatsoever, "and for the most part I don't use it" what was he talking about?
his eyes rolled back in his head, pivoting in all directions like mechanical Russian Cossacks.
"THIS MANS CONTRIBUTION HAS BEEN IMMENSE," exclaimed my Professor, for he interpreted the spastic Man as if he had something of vitalic profundity - the spastic Man, it may not even need be said, was an African.
Look, I like the Oxford comma. I always use it. I would never think of not using it. I still don't go into autistic conniptions seeing someone else apply a different convention. Not everything is a team sport.
It',s ambigui,s if he had a coloured-orange ju,ice ,or a, juice f,ro,m or,anges and if he did he didn't sa,y, the pe,rcent re, al, jui,ce from oranges, and if it was just colou,re,d orange, ,he ,also, didn,'t exp,la,in what e,ggs they were and whether they were cooked, le,ading me to b,elieve it's rerring to o,varies ans the, author is trans, therefore dil,ate,,
when classmates and colleagues who learned all of their grammar shit from the Chicago Manual of Style or some derivative give me grammar advice or make direct edits to my texts, I just ignore them and/or reject the edits.
I've changed the writing styles of seven people this way.
just put your head down and write the way you want to, and at some point you'll become dissatisfied by the way you're writing and evolve anyhow (unless you're a normie slave to a manual of style by personal choice, irresponsibly rejecting your transcendence)
Cute.
Yes I use an Oxford comma, though i feel like I'm in the minority. I don't know why people don't use it more. Some claim it increases the "flow" of a sentence which is just bull shit for the reason in OP
>this dude would read the second sentence and actually think someone was talking to a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice
You're moronic.
But it does have a vocative feel to it. And even besides that, you could also take it to mean that it's toast-and-orange juice, i.e., they made juice out of both the toast and orange.
People who don't use Oxford commas are pants-on-head-moronic.
It's a silly example to get the point across, a more realistic example of a sentence that could be misread without the oxford comma is
>Mark, John, and James went to the store.
>Mark, John and James went to the store.
The first is example is telling something that three people went to the store. The second example is telling Mark who went to the store.
>Mark, John and James all went to the store.
>Mark, John, James and David all went to the store.
if you're talking to mark why the frick would he mistake himself as a subject in Your sentence? This is the same level of contrived reasoning as the "literal" police thinking tower of babel level mayhem will ensue if people didn't speak 100% unambiguously
Rude. But how is that not clear?
>A, B and C
This means A AND B and C
>A, B, and C
This means A AND B AND C
The Oxford comma is just clearer
> This means A AND B and C
No, moron, this makes absolutely no sense. That would be A, and B and C.
>A, B and C
and
>A, B, and C
and
>A and B and C
All means exactly the same thing. English speakers are morons and obsess over a non-issue that functional languages don’t ever think about.
>Milk, coffee and sugar
>Milk, coffee, and sugar
>Milk and coffee and sugar.
I work in a profession where we send lots of emails to Brits (I am American). If you don't use an Oxford Comma the Brits WILL combine the ultimate and penultimate items in the list. Americans will confirm that they're separate, Brits will just assume that it's some kind of bizarre mish-mash of the two.
Yes, Brits are the ones who are most against the Oxford Comma, yes this is just as absurd as putting a "u" in random words or adding an "e" at the end of ever word that ends in "r".
"And" is for spoken lists. Yes, it is superfluous in writing, but it's not for writing, it's for speech.
Because in spoken language you can tell what the last item in the list is because it follows "and". In writing, however, you can't do that. In pre-modern English (and European writing as a whole) conventions regarding lists weren't fixed. The non-Oxford-Comma method is a holdover of that, and is meant to mimic speech. Think of "and" as a spoken comma.
>this is just as absurd as putting a "u" in random words or adding an "e" at the end of ever word that ends in "r"
It's the British way of acknowledging etymology, which Americans are too uncultured to care about.
Like adding an H to "Thames" to make it look Greek?
I thought that was a hold over from the "thorn"?
wouldnt that make it the Yames
Kek, calling it this now. Shout out to that one anon who introduced me to pronouncing Keats to rhyme with Yeats and wike wersa
But then you'd create conflict like
"Gregory tames ferrets on the banks of the Tames"
I miss old Gregory like you wouldn't believe.
Its our language, we can do what we want with it you ungrateful swine.
There are plenty of situations where grammar and punctuation aren't necessary to get the point across. It doesn't meant there isn't a point to using it.
The comma separates each item in a list. You should only omit the comma before an and if there is a pairing, such as:
>I use my computer for gaming, Facebook and Twitter, work, and school.
If the pairing were at the end of the list, you would use "and" before Facebook after the comma.
>Some claim it increases the "flow" of a sentence
"Frick! I was on a roll but then this one comma just happened. Literally wtf??"
Honestly, these people shouldn't be alive.
Always, and anyone who picks me up on it can go frick themselves.
I use it when creating lists
If I see this in an email or an article I consider it a typo
I consider you putting an before article a typo.
"If I see this in an email or article"
Nope it feels wrong, smug even
Saying "an" twice just seems unnecessarily weighty and stupid.
It's sturdy. Robust.
I stand by my comment. It's unnecessary. You're writing an email to someone, not authoring a novel. The style is irrelevant. The less words, the better. Economy of speech.
Ok.
Tom Sneed
Deputy Project Manager
9051425565
Yes.
Joe Feed
Director
"Do what you can with what you have."
>I stand by my comment. It's unnecessary. You're writing an email to someone, not authoring a novel. The style is irrelevant. The less words, the better. Economy of speech.
I maintain my argument; it’s redundant. You're writing an email, be economical.
fricking nerds
If you use a semicolon in an email or god forbid any turns of phrase like "per se" you're liable to get beat up in the parking lot.
Anthony lathered his naked pale flesh in cooking oil, "I will do it," he said, striking a match, "if you d-" and he shrieked for the match had caught a nipple hair and singed his teat rather badly. Suddenly his entire body burst into flames. He collapsed in a shrieking dancing heap of bacon bits.
That's what I just said. Removing the second "an" WOULD be economical. And why did you use a semicolon in one sentence and a comma for a similar construction? Do you have eyes? That's a glaring inconsistency. I can proofread your emails for you if you'd like.
You don't even know. I bought the Cambridge Grammar of the English language. Try me, b***h.
Okay, like which words? I've studied German and am fluent in reading it.
Daß to dass is the one we were discussing.
But you didn't specify that...?
I'm familiar with repetition. Please don't be patronizing and link me to a Wikipedia page. That's cute.
Again, your example sentence is unnecessarily repetitive and tedious. If you want to be pedantic without being stupid, you would just write it thus:
>I had eggs along with toast and orange juice.
I'm literally laughing at how wrong you are. I'm laughing at the misplaced confidence of your post. I would be extremely embarrassed if I were you.
>I had eggs along with toast and orange juice.
This is absurd. You're describing someone simultaneously pouring eggs, toast, and orange juice into their mouth. A repulsive image, and a misleading one.
However, I think I have come up with the most elegant solution to the problem:
>Eggs I had, and toast and orange juice.
That's not it at all. Back to barracks with you, Kinch. Not it at all.
>Eggs I had
What is this? A Shakespearean play?
>Back to barracks with you, Kinch.
Ooh, it burns!
but this convention is the one that would actually make the ß useless. the way it is now in german is that ß signifies a long vowel.
>less
>the fewer words
Why use many word when fewer do trick?
The pronounciation is what matters. It's rrrr ticle, with a r. It's not a vowel. You don't say a-ticle.
I consider your writing "you putting" instead of "your putting" a typo.
I consider your writing "I consider your writing "you putting" instead of "your putting" a typo" instead of "I consider your writing "you putting" instead of "your putting" to be a typo" to be a typo.
i think you should consider going to therapy for severe autism
Unnecessary punctuation is excessive punctuation.
Keep the comma, drop the 'and'.
>I had eggs, toast, orange juice.
The 'and' is bloat. Change my mind.
List ending signifier, tells the reader not to expect more
that's what the period is for
Not always the case.
This is extremely degenerate. Good prose doesn't depend on orthography to be good, it sounds good when read out loud.
The Reverse Cormac
Drop all the commas
>I had eggs and toast and orange juice
See? All cleared up.
Patrician choices.
Drop the comma, add an 'and'.
>I had eggs and toast and orange juice.
The comma is bloat. Change my mind.
mccarthy smiling in his grave
>replace 1 character (,) with 3 (and)
>comma is bloat
that thought occurred to everyone that saw that post in the last 5 hours but we all had the restraint not to post something so inane. all of us except you.
The eggs are on the toast or consumed together, they are a single entity while the orange juice stays separate and is not consumed with the eggs and toast but along the eggs and toast. Serial ands is ambiguous and leaves open the possibility that the consumer dumped the orange juice on the eggs and toast. Both have their uses but leave it to a McCarthy gay to miss the nuance. Ambiguity is not always wanted and McCarthy avoided such ambiguity for good reason, we always know the context of his ands.
Yeah. Recently, I have been making a conscious effort to structure my lists in a logical manner. I group together items that belong to the same category, such as eggs and toast, while keeping separate or different group items, like orange juice, listed independently.
>I had eggs and toast, orange juice.
>fails this hard
Short bus is that way
The extra "and" is far worse than any comma.
You are going to hell for this, I hope you know that.
psht
correct version:
I had Eggs with Toast, and some Orange Juice.
I had Eggs, with a pinch of salt and a dash of hot sauce, with some Toast, and some Orange Juice, with a splash of Vodka.
It's banned in Germany, so I don't use it. I also don't like it.
Based and correct
Is there any hope of bringing the ß back? My German girlfriend assures me it wasn‘t removed from most words in regular use because of an insidious anglo plot but I‘m not sure I believe her.
They still use it. Have you studied German or read any current newspapers? It's still in use. Lese deutsche Zeitungen.
>from most words in regular use
*Lies deutsche Zeitungen. Imperativ.
yeah its only in obscure esoteric words like straße
Yes. Nelson Mandela is not a dildo collector, at least that I know of.
No one cares as long as you adopt a style and stick to it throughout the book.
>adopt just one style
>Ulysses exists in your path
I used it for a while and then my professor more or less told us to stop using it it's ridiculous and I came around.
Why not just get rid of all punctuation then? Frick commas, right? Who needs them? If we're getting rid of the most important comma, the Oxford comma, might as well do away with all of them. Let people figure it out for themselves, right?
Your professor is a moron.
>my professor
wow, chances are you're a grown man who hasn't mastered his literacy - and you're in a place of higher education.
you've almost convinced me to adopt this just out of spite ... I'm thinking that other languages don't have punctuation in the first place and they manage quite well.. so either this is true:
>Why not just get rid of all punctuation then? Frick commas, right
which it could be
or
using the oxford comma allows ESL to better understand. English is kind of a mess to structure to begin with, even if it's written by someone who actually can write to a reasonable basic early 1700's level.
>>my professor
His breath reeked of cheap beer, and he sat beside me, slurring his speech as he attempted to convey his reasoning, "look," he said, "you and I both know it's right, but you've got to think of them," and he offered me a swig from his flask which I declined, "who do you mean, 'them'?" I asked. He wiped the whiskey from his lips on his jacket sleeve, "you know, 'them', the American Black folk," and he added, "of any colour."
"One day..." he stammered, "we- we'll take back the colonies and bomb them."
isn't that precisely one of the uses of semicolon?
>I had eggs, bread; and orange juice.
thought an small pause is implied with it.
Please be bait. Please be bait. Please be bait.
got a little confused there, it requires an element of a list to have internal punctuation.
Yeah, you shouldn't do grammar. Leave it to me, kid.
No
Semicolon is for 2 sentences that can are related
No. Nononononononononononono.
N.
O.
What the frick.
Saving this to admire later tonight once the edibles kick in. Thank you.
pray tell anons, what are these interesting pictures?
I had no idea the second option was even a thing. Why call it the "Oxford Comma" instead of just calling it correct grammar.
But the sentence with the comma can be interpreted as saying that you had eggs and orange juice, and that you're talking to a piece of toast.
are you moronic?
Lmao the butthurt
Just stop.
True. I would edit it thus:
>I had eggs, had toast, and had orange juice.
That is so bad. Are you the guy who wrote the second "an"? That is so repetitive and redundant. No one would even assume there that you're talking to a fricking piece of toast.
>had, had, and had
What the frick.
No, I'm not the 'an' guy.
I think the repetition is effective. It evokes the repetitive chewings and swallowings involved in breakfast. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repetition_(rhetorical_device) if you're not familiar -- and it seems you're clearly not.
If you wished to avoid the repetition, I would suggest:
>I had eggs, and ate toast, and drank orange juice.
Ah you're the guy that doesn't proofread his posts. We all know you.
I had eggs with toast and orange juice
Clown
OH NO NO NO NO
Now some smug redditor is going to draw a cartoon of a man, anthropomorphic toast, and anthropomorphic orange juice sitting around a table eating eggs!
*a man and an anthropomorphic toast and an anthropomorphic orange juice
anthropomorphic is an odd name
but the toast family were never all that normal to begin with
Oxford comma or no comma at all. Either lean into structure as style, or drop the handholding all together. No halfway shit.
>I had breakfast
Nobody gives a shit what you ate. Get on with the story.
How do you properly use a semicolon in a list?
Use the Oxford comma or I will kill you.
Keep the comma, drop the 'eggs'.
I had, toast, and orange juice
Eggs are bloat. Change my mind.
>mfw swiping right on the 1,000,000th woman's profile in three days that references the oxford comma while thinking about how if she matches i will have to pretend she's not an unoriginal dullard for an entire evening, and perhaps, if we're lucky, through an entire marriage and life together
I only use it if there is genuine confusion that could arise by not including it. Rare, but it happens
>punctuation thread which actually offers content slowly drifts out of the catalog
>punctuation thread which only offers memes and hot takes stays on first page
IQfy is just reveling in its own failure at this point and has no desire to be more than a failure.
>IQfy is just reveling in its own failure at this point
no IQfy is b***hing about itself as usual
So that is a yes, IQfy is reveling in its failure at this point.
There is zero reason NOT to use the oxford comma.
It prevents any potential confusion and takes little to no effort.
Yes, but I stick out like a sore thumb when I use it so I try to cut back even though it hurts.
Using the oxford comma becomes a standard thing if you use it as if you're actually 'talking' when writing. It's a little pause in your talking to break up the rhythm.
Without
>I went to the store and bought some juice and went home and drank the juice.
or
>I went to the store. I bought some juice. I went home. I drank the juice.
or
>I went to the store where I bought some juice after which I went home and drank it.
With:
I went to the store, bought some juice, went home, and then drank it.
or
I went to the store [PAUSE] bought some juice [PAUSE] went home [PAUSE] and drank it.
cont.
The difference between the great writers and the average writer is that you should have a 'feeling' for what you want to say, and then you're pouring that into text via writing. (PS: I used an oxford comma there (and here too), did you notice? Doesn't it sound nice? Yeah, that's what it's for.
>cont.
dude shut up
hahaha, I care. I'm genuinely laughing. You guys are stupid haha
>cont.
bruh no one cares
You imbecilic fricking Black person we're in a thread about it
Wait, people don't use the Oxford comma?
People don't, use the Oxford comma.
It's cute when iliterates try to fit in.
>he never did
>iliterates
Excuse me while I kill myself.
None of this matters if you understand what someone is writing.
At every opportunity. It's less shit to do, impresses the midwit and triggers the pedantic autismo. A use case at every corner.
I toasted eggs with; orange juice .
No.
*ehem*
FRICK YOU I LIKE IT
IT'S NOT ALWAYS 'OBVIOUS'
Situational, arbitrary, --who gives a frick
English is the most moronic language
I always used to use the Oxford comma as a child, but they taught us in school not to use it, so now I seldom, if *ever,* use it immediately prior to "and;" also, I use semi-colons in just about every sentence I can (and parenthesis -- or double-hyphens -- as a sort of "frick you" to everything ~~*THEY*~~ stand for), and (and that was one of the few instances I'll ever use anything like an "Oxford Comma") I nest my punctuation *inside* of said parenthesis, as you can see... oh, and I also like to use ellipsis (just like that) and write run-on sentences, just like John Ralph Reuel Tolkien.
Always. It feels and sounds lovely. The alternative seems forced and awkward.
I like to leave a little something open to interpretation for future historians to argue over
Nice..
If you need the oxford comma to parse a sentence you're moronic (or an ESL who should git gud)
Red and light blue aint no american flag chief.
Ich hatte Eier, Toast und Orangensaft.
Ich hatte Eier -Toast - und Orangensaft.
English major here, currently studying for a PhD in applied linguistics. There's a common saying: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". But I'm afraid that there is only one objectively correct way of writing this sentence, and it is as follows:
>"I had: eggs; toast; (and orange juice)."
The eggs and the toast are separate items contained within one section of the breakfast, namely the "food" section. Technically the author could have had the eggs as a liquid, i.e., egg yolks in a glass. However, we will ignore that potentiality for the moment. So, the eggs and toast are syntactically united in the same portion of the sentence, but separated only to the extent that they are acknowledged as unique ontological objects. The inclusion of the orange juice in the breakfast (which, let's face it, wouldn't be much of a breakfast without some good ol' fashioned "OJ") really does present a challenging predicament for the literary purist. "D-Do I j-just list it?" he asks himself, looking away from his computer screen wide-eyed like a student confronted with a particularly difficult exam question while seated in a large hall populated mainly by his fellow students, all of whom seem to be working through the paper with ease. "No!" the answer thunders, as an exam invigilator (often a PhD student, former teacher, part-time teacher or an individual with some experience in an academic setting; which is to say someone who should have some kind of insight into the proper deployment of grammar and syntax) slams down a rolled-up newspaper on his small desk (the kind which a student may only enter sideways, and may only exit in the same fashion, as though he were a stage actor preparing for a role which involves moving in and out of a vehicle, and whose superiors have decided that such a desk would be appropriate for him to use while the more elaborate fake-car set design is being manufactured for use in performances proper. The student recoils, his lips a-tremble, looking up with the terror of an Old Testament first-born. "W-what then sh-should I do?" he barely voices. Well, as I have said: the answer is simple: "I had: eggs; toast; (and orange juice)". I whisper this to him, bending down just enough so that my C-cups brush his shoulder. I whisper it slowly, watching through hooded eyes as he obediently writes down the answer, which will earn him not just the top answer for that particular question (one or two alternative forms of the sentence would have done the same), but will compel the examiner marking the paper to make a prolonged, cartoonish "huuuh?" sound as his eyebrows literally float up his forehead and into the air above his head, and rush (his first few footfalls skidding from the floor, precluding any forward movement, again in a cartoonish manner (one might imagine a kind of gradually increasing whooping sound as he does this)) to inform his friend, a professor of advanced logic and an expert in matters linguistic about the precoscious feat.
I had eggs, toast, milk, orange, juice, bacon, butter, frosted grahams, a spoon, an egg cup, a plate, a bottle of hot sauce, salt, a knife, television, slippers, newspaper, dog.
Lol... As if anyone is thick enough to interpret the latter sentence that way. And for the most part I don't use it.
his tongue lolled from his mouth, "As if anyone is thick enough to interpret the latter sentence that way," what was he talking about? He had stopped talking. IN fact several minutes had passed before he returned and said with no context whatsoever, "and for the most part I don't use it" what was he talking about?
*rolls eyes*
his eyes rolled back in his head, pivoting in all directions like mechanical Russian Cossacks.
"THIS MANS CONTRIBUTION HAS BEEN IMMENSE," exclaimed my Professor, for he interpreted the spastic Man as if he had something of vitalic profundity - the spastic Man, it may not even need be said, was an African.
Sometimes
>They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid, and a cook.
ah-oxford bros, i don't feel so good...
Here's whom I going to invinte for my wedding:
My dad and my mother; my brother Roberto, my sister Angelina and her husband Zeus; my cousin Vinnie, uncle Ted, and aunt Margot.
>Here's whom I going to invinte
>Here they are whom I'm going to invite to my wedding:
>uncle Ted,
F
Look, I like the Oxford comma. I always use it. I would never think of not using it. I still don't go into autistic conniptions seeing someone else apply a different convention. Not everything is a team sport.
Why no, I don't like any commas, how could you tell?
>I had eggs and toast, and orange juice
isn't this more appropriate? that is assuming he's having the eggs + toast together.
ha what does he hAVE TWO SEPARET FFFFFFFFRICKING PLATES
HE HAS THE EGGS WITH THE TOAST
WITH
100X ON THE CHALKBOARD, KEATES
It',s ambigui,s if he had a coloured-orange ju,ice ,or a, juice f,ro,m or,anges and if he did he didn't sa,y, the pe,rcent re, al, jui,ce from oranges, and if it was just colou,re,d orange, ,he ,also, didn,'t exp,la,in what e,ggs they were and whether they were cooked, le,ading me to b,elieve it's rerring to o,varies ans the, author is trans, therefore dil,ate,,
O,h, l,o,o,k, ,th,,e a,ut,hor i,s ,an as,i,an wo,~~*ma,n*~~, pos,eing as ,a ,ma,n in her com,ics,. W,h,o wdyagaww
,
when classmates and colleagues who learned all of their grammar shit from the Chicago Manual of Style or some derivative give me grammar advice or make direct edits to my texts, I just ignore them and/or reject the edits.
I've changed the writing styles of seven people this way.
just put your head down and write the way you want to, and at some point you'll become dissatisfied by the way you're writing and evolve anyhow (unless you're a normie slave to a manual of style by personal choice, irresponsibly rejecting your transcendence)