Using the Oxford comma

I'll have to focus on using the Oxford comma again. Other sites that I write for have scolded me for using it so I've begun to get out of the habit. According the research I've done, it's generally acceptable either way, as long as you stick to the same style throughout.

 

You do have a point - and yes, the general consensus has gotten lazy and stopped using it.

It's a huge issue for me; it makes me twitch. The lack of the Oxford comma can severely alter the meaning of a sentence - and really, that's what it's all about. While I'm all for following the rules and adjusting to match who you're writing for, I would pose arguments (such as the one I used) to explain that yes, in fact, the Oxford comma SHOULD be used.

I really can't think of a reason why it shouldn't; unless you really did invite JFK and Stalin to strip at your party. In which case, you should probably write the sentence another way to be clear. That, and I hope the party was to die for.

 

While there are cases where an Oxford comma is unnecessary, I have found that it helps tremendously in giving voice and tone to a written text. I tend to write how I talk, so it is important to me that the reader pauses where I would have paused if I was reading the text.

I do tend to abuse the comma, though. One problem I have is I tend to write one-sentence paragraphs.

 

*twitch* No! Ack! *twitch* *twitch *twitch*
The Oxford comma is a requirement! Always!!

 

I know what you mean. Like when they want you to type color not colour. English is English and is spoken in England . Americans do not speak English, color is not an English word. Therefore using oxford English and commas is correct since that is proper English. How can America tell England how to peak their own language. It is ridiculous. It is like Germans telling the Japanese they spelling wrong or using incorrect grammar.
Just saying.

 

I found this post fascinating because it downright astonished me that I had no idea what an Oxford comma was. I had to go look it up. I spent nearly 20 years doing all kinds of writing and being exposed to style manuals for everything from news outlets to the legal system. How in the world could I have possibly not known of this type of comma as the Oxford comma?

I've always used the Oxford comma and was taught to use it in school. I am not from England. In fact, I'm from the deep south of the United States. So, how about that! Even way down yonder here, I was taught proper English. And, well, I guess it must have been very proper English since I run into problems with spell checkers all the time when I try to spell an American word according to Brittish spelling rules. I have no idea where I picked up British spelling. I wasn't even aware that I had until spell checkers came out.