Philip Pullman calls for boycott of Brexit 50p coin over 'missing' Oxford comma

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I can well foresee that this is going to split the UK right in two. Oh, the humanity! 😜

Strunk and White encourage us not to shy away from using commas. They exist, so use them. Personally, I use them wherever it seems logical to introduce a break in the thought or idea being conveyed. I never saw a comma I didn’t like.

My big pet peeve is when people use the “greengrocer’s apostrophe” — inserting an apostrophe before the S in any word that ends in an S — “banana’s 29 cents a pound”, “you will be in our prayer’s”, “I have two eye’s and two ear’s”. To me, it just screams doofus, but for many others, it’s just a lifestyle accessory.

Just one of those thing’s that irritate’s me. 🤮
 
I am a staunch supporter of the Oxford comma. I supervise a staff of attorneys and researchers who do a lot of writing. I don’t insist on much from the folks in the office, but I am unwavering that they use the Oxford comma.
 
Court cases have actually been decided based on the presence or lack of the oxford comma.
 
“Eats, shoots, and leaves.”

“Eats shoots, and leaves.”

Commas save lives.
 
Pitcairn17 said:
“Eats, shoots, and leaves.”

“Eats shoots, and leaves.”

Commas save lives.
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Well, in this case, the commas did support the murderous, dine-and-dash, buffet-jacking panda. He went on his rampage on the basis of “eats, shoots, and leaves.”

“Eats shoots and leaves” would have been the proper phrasing, and saved lives.
 
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Well, it’s apparently the British who are shy about using the series comma, so why are they all upset?

OTOH, while I am a fierce proponent of series commas, I don’t think in this particular case that the meaning is changed by the lack of it.
 
I only put it in when I want to emphasise the last item. So:

What colour is the flag?
It’s red, white and blue.

Is the flag red and white?
It’s red, white, and blue.

I’m emphasising that blue has been included. It saves having to write it:

It’s red, white and blue.
 
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I guess this is the sort of thing that will happen when an Exeter graduate is chancellor of the exchequer.
 
For the comma:
  • Oxford University Press
  • The US Government
  • American Medical Association
Against the comma:
  • Oxford University
  • The Guardian (the OP’s link)
  • New York Times
  • Australian Government
  • Canadian Government
 
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