See how I used the Oxford comma there? Because it’s necessary for clarity. “We invited the strippers, JFK, and Stalin.” Let me spell it out for you using another famed Oxford comma-nista example: Instead of saying “We invited the strippers and JFK and Stalin,” you substitute “and” with commas. You’re essentially writing “and and.” And that’s just silly. See, the purpose of a comma when used in a list is to replace the word “and.” When you use an Oxford comma in a list of three or more items, it’s redundant. The Oxford comma-nistas would never suggest that though! However, this whole “sentence,” if you can even call it that, could be rewritten for clarity, and we would not have been subjected to all this nonsense in the first place. Obviously, there are some pretty serious implications without it. Now, let’s be clear: The Oxford comma is necessary in this “sentence” as it’s written. Don't you think five million dollars is quite a loss, due the lack of a single, tiny comma? You can be sure an Oxford comma was added to the revised documents.Oxford comma-nistas around the world are having a heyday over a recent push alert sent by Sky News, which they believe is the end-all, be-all argument in favor of their precious punctuation mark.
By placing an Oxford comma before "or distribution," it would've been clear that "distribution" was its own separate act.
GENERAL THOUGHTS ON OXFORD COMMA DRIVERS
Without a final comma in the series of tasks, "packing for shipment or distribution" could be read as "packing for shipment OR packing for distribution," where "packing for" is used for both "shipment" and "distribution." This is quite different from or, wherein the drivers are doing the latter task. The documents indicated that the "canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of" certain product are exempt from overtime payments. In legislative documents, certain tasks were singled out as exempt from overtime payments. When you're coming to the party can you bring Janet, a clown and an acrobat? (Is Janet a clown and an acrobat?)Īs you can see, leaving out the Oxford comma can sometimes make things confusing, hilarious, and possibly scandalous if you were to take the sentence the wrong way.Ī group of dairy delivery drivers in Maine received a $5 million settlement, due entirely to the lack of an Oxford comma.We were given this information by the Congressman, a liar and a cheat.In class today you'll meet the spiders, Spencer and Telly.(Is strawberry and mango one flavor or is it blueberry and mango?) The ice cream comes in an assortment of flavors including banana and strawberry, strawberry and mango and blueberry.We needed to discuss the state of the union address, William and Henry's meeting and marriage rights.(Are the cut and curl offered together or is it the curl and color?) The cosmetology school offered a perm, cut and curl and color for a very reasonable price.We are going to be wearing dresses that are blue, green and purple and red.
Let’s look at a few more fun examples to clearly see when an oxford comma is needed so you don't look like a weirdo!
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