Style Guides to the Rescue!

 Twenty-five or so years ago, when I was just beginning my editing practice, I had two important mentors. My friend Wilma was a newly-retired grammar teacher, and she was my definitive source for grammar. We even called her the grammar guru. If Wilma said it was so, it was so. My friend Patsy was a well-published author who had received many national and international awards. She’d been published in Guideposts, Redbook, Grit, Good Housekeeping, and on and on and on. She knew how to write a story.

Wilma, Patsy and I frequently met for lunch. One day, we went to Applebees. Wilma and Patsy arrived together, and they were already in the midst of an argument. And, as the meal progressed, so did the volume of the disagreement. I was the innocent spectator—and I was horrified. Here were my two mentors, the two women I admired most, and they were violently arguing about a comma.

My horrification was not because they were loud and on the verge of getting us kicked out of Applebees—although I was a bit embarrassed. What bothered me was that these two great sources of writing knowledge disagreed about commas.

By the time we left, Wilma and Patsy had forgotten their disagreement and were making plans to go shopping. But I was traumatized. How would I ever again know who to believe? Who to trust?

The internet was young in those days, but I went home and started a search. I found arguments for both sides of the Oxford comma debate. And then I found the answer—it all depended upon the style guide used. Both Wilma and Patsy were right. Wilma worked in academia. Her style guide said no Oxford comma. Patsy wrote fiction. The Chicago Manual of Style loves the Oxford comma.

Style guides are important, people! Be sure you understand which one is appropriate for the type of writing you do. Or ask. I’m here. I like questions.

Rest in peace, sweet, stubborn Patsy. I miss you every day.