#serial comma

[lovely-writes-alot]

wait so I've been accidently using the oxford comma and it was me just being quirky???

[writtenwolves]

[josieandthepussycatsofficial]

Oxford Comma: This Lawsuit Shows Why the Serial Comma Is So Crucial

This settles the Oxford comma debate! Surprise: It goes against AP style. Here's how the serial comma works and why it's important for clari

An appellate court ruled in favor of Maine dairy drivers in a labor dispute that hinged on the oft-debated piece of punctuation.

For anyone who’s ever wondered what all the fuss is about over Oxford commas, the circuit judge’s 2017 opinion says it all: “For want of a comma, we have this case.”

The Oxford comma debate, and a $10 million comma

In this class action lawsuit, drivers for Oakhurst Dairy sued the company over its failure to grant them overtime pay.

Workers in Maine are entitled to 1.5 times their normal pay for hours worked over 40 per week, according to state law. However, there are exemptions to this rule. Specifically, the law states, companies don’t have to pay overtime for the following activities:

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

Agricultural produce;

Meat and fish product; and

Perishable foods

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

Oakhurst Dairy argued its drivers did not qualify for overtime because they engage in distribution, and the spirit of the law intended to list “packing for shipment” and “distribution” as two separate exempt activities.

However, the drivers argued the letter of the law said no such thing. Without that telltale Oxford comma, the law could be read to exclude only packing — whether it was packing for shipment or packing for distribution. Distribution by itself, in this case, would not be exempt.

Without that comma, as the judge maintained, this distinction was not clear-cut:

If that exemption used a serial comma to mark off the last of the activities that it lists, then the exemption would clearly encompass an activity that the drivers perform. And, in that event, the drivers would plainly fall within the exemption and thus outside the overtime law’s protection. But, as it happens, there is no serial comma to be found in the exemption’s list of activities, thus leading to this dispute over whether the drivers fall within the exemption from the overtime law or not.

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

While the debate 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.

[whilereadingandwalking]

“Being a grammar snob is overrated. I am a grammar expert, but I refuse to be a grammar snob anymore. No one really needs to use perfect grammar on Twitter. It’s not actually worth cutting your friends and family off every five seconds to try and get them to speak perfect English (trust me, I’ve read the CMS front to back, and none of us speak a ‘perfect’ English).”

So over at Book Riot, I collected a list of amazing merch, gifts, and items meant for grammar lovers—lovers, not snobs—people obsessed with our lovely, constantly shifting and changing language. For the word nerds.

[angleofmusings]

pls dni and unfollow me if you’re homophobic, don’t use people’s pronouns, or refuse to accept the superiority of the series comma

this is only partially a joke

[geekosaurusregina]

K: “What are you doing?”

M (staring at her like an excited puppy): I donno, I just like smiling at people.

K: Well I don’t!

M: ...

K: I’m sorry, I’m angry.

M: ...

M: Serial comma’s really messin you up, huh?

K: Don’t make me laugh when I don’t want to laugh. It upsets me, what with your wit and skill...

[niseamstories]

A bit old, but still the best case ever made for the Oxford comma.

[oupacademic]

Happy National Punctuation Day! 

We would like to forgive you for not using the Oxford Comma. While it is considered optional by the grammar police, the ‘serial comma’ holds a special place in our hearts, minds, and writing. 

GIF by Nicole Piendel for Oxford University Press