Serial comma
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The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma and Harvard comma) is the final comma used before a conjunction, such as "and" or "or", in a list of three or more items. The phrase "ham, chips, and eggs" is written with a serial comma, but "ham, chips and eggs" is not.
The main justification for the serial comma is to reduce ambiguity, although both its absence and its use can, in fact, produce it.
The terms "Oxford comma" and "Harvard comma" come from Oxford University Press and Harvard University Press, where use of the serial comma is the house style.
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Resolving ambiguity
Use of the serial comma can remove ambiguity. The apocryphal book dedication, "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God", creates ambiguity about the writer's parentage, because "Ayn Rand and God" can be read as an apposition to "my parents". A comma before "and" removes the ambiguity.
Consider: "My favourite types of sandwiches are BLT, ham, peanut butter and jam and cream cheese." This is ambiguous because "jam" may be paired with either "peanut butter" or "cream cheese". A comma after "jam" can clarify this sentence: "My favorite types of sandwiches are BLT, ham, peanut butter and jam, and cream cheese."
Creating ambiguity
Use of the serial comma can introduce ambiguity.
Consider "They went to Oregon with Betty, a cow, and a piano." The presence of the last comma creates the possibility that Betty is a cow, reasonably allowing either reading, context aside. Removing the comma leaves the possibility that Betty is both a cow and a piano, but such is highly unlikely, so the list will be read as:
- Betty
- cow
- piano
Alternatives
The sentence "They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid, and a cook" is ambiguous if the serial comma is adopted, and the sentence "They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid and a cook" is ambiguous if it is not. Therefore, a writer who intends for Betty, the maid, and the cook to be three distinct people will create an ambigous sentence whether or not the serial comma is adopted. If the reader is unaware of which convention is being used, both sentences are always ambiguous. These forms would remove the ambiguity:
- They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid and cook. (One person.)
- They went to Oregon with Betty, who is a maid and cook. (One person.)
- They went to Oregon with Betty (a maid) and a cook. (Two people.)
- They went to Oregon with Betty—a maid—and a cook. (Two people.)
- They went to Oregon with a full staff: Betty; a maid; a cook. (Three people.)
Usage
The Chicago Manual of Style and most authorities on American English, Canadian English, and some authorities on British English — for example, Oxford University Press and Fowler's Modern English Usage — recommend the use of the serial comma. Newspaper style guides, such as those published by The New York Times, Associated Press, and Canadian Press are exceptions to the general U.S. and Canadian use of the serial comma: they recommend against it for reasons of space.
In Australia, Britain, and South Africa, the serial comma tends not to be used in newspapers and other non-academic publications, unless its absence produces ambiguity. But some academic publishing houses in these countries do use it. The Australian Government Publishing Service's Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers recommends against it.
Lynne Truss, in Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (2003), writes:
There is just one final thing holding us back, then. It is that every man is his own stickler. And while I am very much in favour of forming an army of well-informed punctuation vigilantes, I can foresee problems getting everyone to pull in the same direction. There will be those, for example, who insist that the Oxford comma is an abomination (the second comma in "ham, eggs, and chips"), whereas others are unmoved by the Oxford comma but incensed by the trend towards under-hyphenation — which the Oxford comma people have quite possibly never even noticed.
Examples of style guides supporting use of the serial comma
- The United States Government Printing Office's Style Manual:
After each member within a series of three or more words, phrases, letters, or figures used with and, or, or nor.
- "red, white, and blue
- "horses, mules, and cattle; but horses and mules and cattle
- "by the bolt, by the yard, or in remnants
- "a, b, and c
- "neither snow, rain, nor heat
- "2 days, 3 hours, and 4 minutes (series); but 70 years 11 months 6 days (age)"
- Wilson Follett's Modern American Usage: A Guide (Random House, 1981), pp. 397-401:
What, then, are the arguments for omitting the last comma? Only one is cogent — the saving of space. In the narrow width of a newspaper column this saving counts for more than elsewhere, which is why the omission is so nearly universal in journalism. But here or anywhere one must question whether the advantage outweighs the confusion caused by the omission ...
The recommendation here is that [writers] use the comma between all members of a series, including the last two, on the common-sense ground that to do so will preclude ambiguities and annoyances at a negligible cost." [1] (http://www.swcp.com/info/essays/serial-comma.htm)
- Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition (University of Chicago Press, 1993) Chapter 5.5:
In a series consisting of three or more elements, the elements are separated by commas. When a conjunction joins the last two elements in a series, a comma is used before the conjunction ...
- "Attending the conference were Farmer, Johnson, and Kendrick.
Examples of style guides opposing use of the serial comma
The Times style manual:
Avoid the so-called Oxford comma; say 'he ate bread, butter and jam' rather than 'he ate bread, butter, and jam'." [3] (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2941-576_3,00.html)
Examples of style guides advocating only partial use of the serial comma
- The Economist style manual:
Do not put a comma before and at the end of a sequence of items unless one of the items includes another and. Thus 'The doctor suggested an aspirin, half a grapefruit and a cup of broth. But he ordered scrambled eggs, whisky and soda, and a selection from the trolley.' [4] (http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=805695)
- The AP Stylebook:
Use commas to separate elements in a series, but do not put a comma before the conjunction in a simple series: The flag is red, white and blue. He would nominate Tom, Dick or Harry.
Put a comma before the concluding conjunction in a series, however, if an integral element of the series requires a conjunction: I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast.
Use a comma also before the concluding conjunction in a complex series of phrases: The main points to consider are whether the athletes are skillful enough to compete, whether they have the stamina to endure the training, and whether they have the proper mental attitude.
Trivia
New Zealand poet Elizabeth Smither has written a poem about the serial comma [5] (http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/authors/smither/comma.asp), and there is a musical band called Oxford Comma. [6] (http://www.oxfordcomma.com)
External links
- Rules governing comma usage (http://www.geocities.com/markboonejesusfreak/academic/commas)
- Wikicities essay on the serial comma (http://grammar.wikicities.com/wiki/Oxford_comma)
References
- Style Manual (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/index.html) 29th edition, U.S. Government Printing Office (Washington, 2003)
- Economist style guide on commas (http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=805695)
- The Times style guide on punctuation (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2941-576_3,00.html)
- The Case of the Serial Comma (http://www.swcp.com/info/essays/serial-comma.htm), The Professional Training Company
- Oxford comma (http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/authors/smither/comma.asp), a poem by Elizabeth Smither
- The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers, 15th edition, Chicago University Press, (Chicago, 2003) ISBN 0226104036
- Follett, W. (New York, 1981) Modern American Usage Random House Value Publishing, ISBN 0517335085
- H. W. Fowler and R.W. Burchfield (Oxford, 2000) "The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, third edition, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198602634
- Truss, L. (London, 2003) Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Profile Books, ISBN 1861976127