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.

Ins and Outs of the Oxford Comma

by

Jessica Nelson



 

 

If any of you quirked an eyebrow when you read this title and asked yourself, “What is an ‘Oxford comma’?” don’t worry. The first time someone mentioned the Oxford comma to me, I had to ask for an explanation, because I had never heard of it before.

The Oxford comma is what most non-grammar-nerds know as the serial comma. That’s the comma that comes before the “and” in a list. (FUN FACT: I recently learned it is called the Oxford comma because it was primarily used by the printers, editors, and readers at the Oxford University Press. Its use is first mentioned—as far as my research has shown me—in the 1905 edition of the OUP Style Guide). Here’s an example of the Oxford comma:

My favorite authors are Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King, and Mary Shelley.

(Not really, but you get the idea.)

Now, I could omit the Oxford comma and say:

My favorite authors are Edgar Allan Poe, Stephen King and Mary Shelley.

The advantage of the Oxford comma is its ability to clear up ambiguous sentences. I know when I read a sentence that contains a list and there isn’t an Oxford comma, I tend to pair the last two items together, the same way most people pair “peanut butter and jelly.” We don’t always think of them as two separate items, but as things that go together. Then, I always expect there to be another item to the list, because, for me, the list isn’t over until I’ve seen “, and.”

Let me give you an example.

For lunch, Mrs. Jones put out a veggie platter, milk and peanut butter sandwiches.

The way I read that, without the Oxford comma, the sandwiches are made of bread, peanut butter, and milk. That just sounds gross—and soggy.

By adding the Oxford comma, it becomes clear that milk is a separate item offered (hopefully, served in some kind of cup). For that reason, I am a proponent of the Oxford comma.

Some style guides mandate the use of the Oxford comma and others prohibit it. This Wikipedia page has a section of “Recommendations by Style Guides” (Section Four, if you’re using the hotlinks in the Contents at the top page) that might be helpful if you aren’t sure if you need to use it. Here’s a quick hint: the Modern Language Association (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style—the preferred style for fiction writing—and The Elements of Style all support the use of the Oxford comma.

If you don’t know if the style guide you are using encourages or discourages the use of the Oxford comma, or—if you are like me—you don’t know which style guide you are using, make a decision about whether or not you want to use the Oxford comma, then do so consistently. However, if you have chosen not to use the Oxford comma, be sure to read all your list-containing sentences carefully. If the clarity of the sentence is ever in doubt, add the Oxford comma. It can’t hurt.

What is your stance in this heated debate? We’re curious to know. Leave your thoughts in the comments below or on our Facebook page.