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Who cares about the Oxford comma?

The reply historically has been grammar nerds, Strunk & White and those who follow the infamous Chicago vs. AP writing fashion guide debate.

Later on this lawsuit a few years ago, we added dairy driver to the listing.

That'southward because an appellate courtroom ruled in favor of Maine dairy drivers in a labor dispute that hinged on the oft-debated slice of punctuation.

For anyone who'south ever wondered what all the fuss is about over Oxford commas, the excursion guess'southward 2017 opinion says information technology all: "For want of a comma, nosotros accept this case."

What is the Oxford comma or the serial comma?

For those in need of a grammer rules refresh , hither's a quick overview of the Oxford comma.

Sometimes called the serial comma, the Oxford comma is a comma placed betwixt the last 2 items in a series of three or more than.

For example, the Oxford comma falls later "hat" in this sentence:

"She wore a jacket, hat, and mittens."

While some writing way guides do not use the Oxford comma, supporters say it'due south necessary to avoid potential ambiguity. And if there's 1 thing writers can agree on, information technology'southward the importance of clarity. In some cases, an extra comma matters.

Does AP manner use the Oxford comma?

The short respond: No.

Many writers, including journalists, live past the Associated Printing stylebook. AP way does non apply Oxford commas.

Notwithstanding, Chicago style does require Oxford commas. That'southward the Chicago Manual of Style, which is normally used by book publishers, academics and trade publications.

So the determination virtually whether to employ an Oxford comma relies on what blazon of writing you're doing, and which style guide applies to that project.

If you're writing for a news site, you probably want to follow AP manner and avert the Oxford comma. If you're writing a novel yous plan to submit to publishers, you probably want to follow Chicago way, which does employ the Oxford comma.

An Oxford comma instance

Let'southward review how the Oxford comma works.

Here'southward an example of a sentence with the Oxford comma: "I admire my parents, Gandhi, and Mother Teresa."

It's clear in this example that I admire my parents, as well as Gandhi and Mother Teresa.

But remove that serial comma, and the sentence reads, "I adore my parents, Gandhi and Mother Teresa." One could argue that, written this way, the judgement implies that Gandhi and Mother Teresa are my parents. While the average person would know this isn't probable to be the case, it illustrates how easily a missing comma can change the meaning of a judgement.

(Dictionary.com offers more funny examples.)

It was precisely this type of ambivalence that led to the Maine case with the dairy farmers — the oxford comma lawsuit.

The Oxford comma debate, and a $10 1000000 comma

In this grade activity lawsuit, drivers for Oakhurst Dairy sued the visitor over its failure to grant them overtime pay.

Workers in Maine are entitled to 1.v times their normal pay for hours worked over 40 per week, according to state law. Yet, there are exemptions to this dominion. Specifically, the law states, companies don't take to pay overtime for the following activities:

The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of:

1. Agricultural produce;
2. Meat and fish product; and
3. Perishable foods

Note the end of the opening line, where there is no comma before the "or."

Oakhurst Dairy argued its drivers did non authorize for overtime because they appoint in distribution, and the spirit of the law intended to listing "packing for shipment" and "distribution" equally two separate exempt activities.

Yet, the drivers argued the letter of the police force said no such thing. Without that telltale Oxford comma, the law could be read to exclude only packing — whether information technology was packing for shipment or packing for distribution. Distribution by itself, in this case, would non exist exempt.

Without that comma, as the judge maintained , this stardom was non clear-cutting:

If that exemption used a serial comma to mark off the last of the activities that it lists, and so the exemption would conspicuously encompass an activity that the drivers perform. And, in that effect, the drivers would manifestly fall inside the exemption and thus outside the overtime law's protection. But, every bit it happens, there is no serial comma to exist found in the exemption'southward list of activities, thus leading to this dispute over whether the drivers fall within the exemption from the overtime law or not.

Equally a result, the court found in favor of the drivers, costing the dairy an estimated $10 1000000 .

Comma rules: To comma, or non to comma?

As a diehard Oxford comma loyalist, this ruling fabricated my day.

While many of the sites I write for as a freelance blogger follow AP style (including this one), which is sans-serial comma, I still sneak one in when information technology seems needed to avoid confusion. This case backs upwardly that habit as more than only an old-school tic I haven't even so let go.

While the argue may still rage on over whether Oxford commas are necessary all the time, this ruling upholds the practice of using them when they're essential to ward off ambiguity.

And so, who intendance nearly the Oxford comma? The answer, co-ordinate to the courts, is officially: anyone who's interested in clarity.

Accept that, AP fashion!

This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. Nosotros update our posts equally often equally possible to ensure they're useful for our readers.

Photograph via Lamai Prasitsuwan/ Shutterstock

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Source: https://thewritelife.com/is-the-oxford-comma-necessary/

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