And I'm not trying to be stubborn. When I'm wrong, I try to admit it and embrace the new way. When I noticed that my poor copyeditor at Poppy had to go through my entire manuscript and change all of the spacing, I researched the new one-space-after-punctuation thing and gave a hearty, "My bad." Now, I'm a one-spacer.
But I'm still clinging to the serial comma. I can't give it up.
For example, if I write, "I'm going to the store for watermelon, beans, and carrots," it's pretty clear to the reader what I'm getting. You may argue that it is just as clear to you if you read it as, "I'm going to the store for watermelon, beans and carrots." But that groups beans and carrots. Are you looking for beans and carrots that are already packaged together?
By going down that road, you are setting yourself up for confusion. Look how clear things are when I write, "I'm going to the store for watermelon, black and brown beans, and carrots." When ditching the serial comma, it becomes, "I'm going to the store for watermelon, black and brown beans and carrots." The absence of the serial comma implies something unintended about the carrots.
Anyway, you can read about it here real quick because Oxford makes it all much clearer. But please, for the love of God and for my sanity, could we just embrace the serial comma?

Cause seriously -- I'm a super fan. I love you, serial comma!
1 comment:
I am guilty of not always using the serial comma. I was taught years ago that the serial comma was not always necessary, hence my using only one comma when listing three items.
I love you and your passion!
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