The Oxford comma vs. the other way

An unprejudiced comparison

Hey, everyone!

The Oxford or serial comma is the comma you see before the word "and" when writing a list of words or phrases. Some writing style guides argue for the Oxford comma, while others insist that the comma is redundant and the word "and" is sufficient to separate the last two items in a list. Let's look unbiasedly at both and see which camp is correct.

We need a name

Since the lack of an Oxford comma doesn't have a name, which provides us a clue to its unimportance, we'll call it the Heathen comma, with no bias implied.

Here is an example of both styles:

Oxford comma: "I like the colors green, red, and blue."

Heathen comma: "I like the colors green, red and blue."

In this case, the Heathen comma has red and blue awkwardly invading each other's space, but the meaning is otherwise the same. However, this is only occasionally true. Many times, the Heathen comma changes the meaning of a sentence. For example:

Oxford comma: "Tonight, I will see Hamlet with my nosey neighbors, Phil, and Lem.

Heathen comma: "Tonight, I will see Hamlet with my nosey neighbors, Phil and Lem.

Five people will attend Hamlet in the first sentence, but Phil, Lem, and I can ditch the neighbors and still have a good time. Unfortunately, in the Heathen sentence, I'm stuck with the cloying people next door for the evening.

Here is another example of the Heathen comma perverting a sentence's meaning:

Oxford comma: "Suddenly, I found myself locked in a closet with my wife, a mime, and a stage magician."

Heathen comma: "Suddenly, I found myself locked in a closet with my wife, a mime and a stage magician.

With the Oxford comma, my wife isn't an oddball. But, unfortunately for her, the Heathen comma isn't as kind. Or perhaps it is me being abused by this heretical punctuation.

If you think about serial lists in your writing, they are comparable to bulleted lists. That being the case, does this look right to you?

Grocery list:

→ Eggs.

→ Milk.

→ Box of illegal fireworks.

Bacon

Think of the commas in a serial list as bullets. If you wouldn't leave the bullet off the last item in a bulleted list, why would you do so in your prose?

We have a winner

If you still need convincing, I recently read a quote by the Senior Content Editor of the Writer's Digest Writing Community that will bring closure to our impartial review in favor of the Oxford comma.

"I loathe excess, but the consistent use of the Oxford comma actually makes language—reading and writing—so much easier to comprehend; and that's why I love it."

— Robert Lee Brewer

Now that you've found the truth, you too can confidently write serial lists, even with the most pious linguistic clerics.

The challenge

While some Yankee heretics may challenge the necessity of the Oxford comma, its consistent use will bring precision and clarity to your writing. And trust me, readers love that.

For today's challenge, can you think of a sentence or two where the Heretic comma alters the meaning of the sentence? Share what you come up with in the comments.