/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.9824245]

I'm a professional writer and all of the people in my office are against the Oxford. It is flat out infuriating. How do you folks feel about it?

[Anonymous No.9824332]

>>9824245
i'm also a professional writer
i tend not to use it unless i am doing something like making a list of things that already has an "and" in between. for example

famous bands of the 90s include blur, oasis and pulp (no oxford comma)
famous comedy double acts include laurel and hardy, morecombe and wise, and reeves and mortimer (oxford comma)

it's not a precise science

[Anonymous No.9824337]

>>9824245
who gives a fuck about an oxford comma

[Anonymous No.9824349]

>>9824332
but in your first sentence, it seems to group the last two items and isolate the first item. I just think it's confusing looking. or it sounds like you're talking to someone named "oasis and pulp."

[Anonymous No.9824375]

>>9824349
obviously context is important. if the meaning is ambiguous i recast the sentence. it is unlikely that i would include lines of dialogue in the technical documentation that i write.

[Anonymous No.9824755]

>>9824245
>>9824332
>I am a professional writer

[Anonymous No.9824762]

>>9824245
It. Is. Always. Necessary. I HATE people not using it. I FUCKING HATE IT. Thanks OP, I needed an outlet for this issue more than I realised.

[Anonymous No.9824763]

I support the Oxford comma. Please use it. Thank you.

[Anonymous No.9824781]

It can only improve a sentence and never hider it. There's no valid reason not to use it. Unless you're some writer going for "aesthetic."

[Anonymous No.9824790]

I can put fifty commas If I want to
O Captain my Captain

[Anonymous No.9824915]

do you have a million confirmed types?

[Anonymous No.9825738]

It is literally objectively incorrect in English to use the Oxford Comma.

[Anonymous No.9825767]

>>9824245
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I've seen those English dramas too!

but seriously. I'll fight a bitch about the oxford comma.

[Anonymous No.9825774]

>>9825767
Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family, and her dog.

Is this Oxford coma? What's the difference between Oxford and regural one?

[Anonymous No.9825779]

>>9825774
This is the oxford comma in ()

>I like to drink water, juice, soda(,) and milk.

[Anonymous No.9825782]

>>9825779
Comma coming before the adjective is a Oxford comma. OK, you learn something every day

>english not my native

[Anonymous No.9825796]

>>9824332
>i'm also a professional writer
>i

[Anonymous No.9825799]

>>9825796
to be fair, the nuances of online communications aren't comparable to other writing.

[Anonymous No.9825872]

This is why no one takes English seriously!

[Anonymous No.9825882]

>>9825872
>lingua franca
>no one takes it seriously

[Anonymous No.9825903]

>>9825882
I was joking.
It's just funny that people are so ardent on the use of the Oxford comma when it doesn't make a difference in 990 out of 1000 cases. I guess everyone needs a few quirky hardline stances for reasons of mental health.

[Anonymous No.9826019]

>>9825738
Source?

[Anonymous No.9826046]

apply commas based on the sound

anything else is autism

[Anonymous No.9826099]

>>9824755
yes, there are a few of us on here. i'm mainly a technical writer with a couple of sidelines

>>9825796
my output on 4chan is not the same standard as my professional work

>>9825738
nope. most style guides say that it is occasionally essential or useful to the reader. for example this is from the Guardian style guide (which is generally well regarded, whatever you think of the Guardian itself):
>a comma before the final “and” in lists: straightforward ones (he ate ham, eggs and chips) do not need one, but sometimes it can help the reader (he ate cereal, kippers, bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade, and tea).

>Sometimes it is essential: compare
>I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis, and JK Rowling
>with
>I dedicate this book to my parents, Martin Amis and JK Rowling

[Anonymous No.9826100]

>>9825782
Noun not adjective

[Anonymous No.9826121]

>>9825767
>the sentence still doesn't make sense with the oxford comma

[Anonymous No.9826124]

>>9825782
Before the 'and'.

[Anonymous No.9826144]

>>9824245
>his language does not have rigorous punctuation rules
It's just a short step from here to speaking ebonics.

[Anonymous No.9826224]

>>9826099
>>9824245

>religiously adhering to style guides
>your writing holds merit
pick 1 and only 1

Really though OP, I completely agree with you on the Oxford comma, its incessant omission drives me up the wall. I personally believe commas should be used as tools to control the flow of your writing, primarily used for denoting where pauses would go if your words were spoken out loud in a vernacular manner.

With oxford comma (commas denoting pauses): I like to drink water, juice, and soda.

How the sentence is spoken: I like to drink water (pause) juice (pause) and soda.


Over the last century or so, we've gone from writers utilizing punctuation as tools to improve the elegance and the coherence of their writing: inserting commas where naturally you'd expect a pause, using semi colons to denote a higher level of sentence organization, the use of colons and hyphens for emphasis; to writers avoiding all punctuation and grammar unless it is absolutely necessary under the grammar doctrine they follow. Consequently, people tend to subscribe to doctrines which promote lazy writing with minimal punctuation.

[Anonymous No.9826515]

Why are Americans so inbred?

[Anonymous No.9826634]

>>9826144
The greatest works in the English language were written in the 18th and 19th centuries, when grammar and punctuation rules were much less rigid than they are now.

[Anonymous No.9826643]

>>prescriptive grammarians in 2017

[Anonymous No.9826648]

>>9825774
Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking, her family and her dog.

[Anonymous No.9826653]

>>9824245
You're supposed to use it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a cucked faggot. Read Strunk and White, faggot.

[Anonymous No.9827980]

>>9826515
>BE not using single quotation marks in the example
fucking trash

[Anonymous No.9828891]

>>9827980
I tend to use single quotation marks for short phrases or words, and double quotation marks for longer excerpts.

[Anonymous No.9828927]

>>9824245

It feels weird and wrong to not use it, personally. I could see omission as a form of style in fiction or poetry but otherwise I feel I have to reread the last few items of the list because I am expecting an oxford.