Oxford Comma ~ Yes or No?
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Re: Oxford Comma ~ Yes or No?
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- moderntimes
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The balloons were red, blue and green. (no comma before the "and")
vs
The balloons were red, blue, and green. ("Oxford comma" before the "and")
However I found in an ACTUAL guide published by, wait for it, Oxford University, that the comma is used to separate unequal items in a list:
I ate fish and chips, and ice cream and cake. (comma before the "and" is the real Oxford comma) See my post #11 in this thread to see the actual example from the real, true Oxford University guide.
And then, it turns out that another genuine Oxford University publication seems to conflict another publication of its own press.
I'd always thought that the Oxford comma was the former example (balloons) until I saw the actual Oxford guide which SPECIFICALLY names the "Oxford comma" as one which is used in an unequal list (the food sentence). But another Oxford U publication seems to contradict this.
So I dunno. I'd always used the comma in a list of equal items. This use was common in the US but not so in the UK, and in recent years, the comma is deleted from US style as well. But my publisher provided the Oxford guide and so I've deleted the comma in all my novels. That's the "balloon" comma in the former example above, and continued to use the comma in an unequal list (the latter example).
In all the books which I've been reading in the past few years, the comma in an equal list is deleted, for both US and UK typography. These are new professionally published books. So apparently, the omission of the "Oxford comma" in a list of equal items has become the standard.
Therefore, anyone who's submitting for professional publication or sale, best to omit the "balloon" usage comma. Personally, I don't care.
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- moderntimes
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I ordered fish and chips, and ice cream and cake.
This comma prior to the "and" is what I think is the genuine Oxford comma and is not the list of equal items, such as:
I bought red, blue and green balloons.
Where the omitted comma is often termed the Oxford comma, but in absence (which doesn't make sense) and even though many want a comma before the "and" in that sentence, it makes sense with or without the comma.
But it all comes down on what your editor / publisher wants, I suppose. I used the "balloon" comma until I received the stylebook from my editor, and so I removed that "equal list" comma in my manuscripts when I submitted the galley proofs.
Regardless, the use of the "equal list" comma (the balloon example) is in decline both in the US and UK. Likely it will disappear in 10 years.
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