Oxford Comma ~ Yes or No?

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Oxford Comma?

Yes!
67
93%
No!
5
7%
 
Total votes: 72

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moderntimes
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Re: Oxford Comma ~ Yes or No?

Post by moderntimes »

A good point. As you know, aside from a required comma for perhaps a dependent clause, commas can be added or deleted to adjust the rhythm or pacing of a sentence, deliberately invoking small pauses which may indicate an internal dilemma, or by omission, a faster pace denoting urgency or excitement. Not precisely the Oxford comma, whatever that may be, but useful. Here's a sequence from my 1st novel, Blood Spiral. It describes the moment of a terrible accident involving two Air Force T-38 training planes. In this sequence, I omitted commas which may have technically been requisite so that I could impart a feeling of "rushing" to the phrasing:

The second T-38 was only yards above the tarmac, tracking the first plane’s path. Then it inexplicably and suddenly rose, slipped sideways, lost altitude quickly and slammed flat onto the runway with a terrible finality.

A great and frightening fireball burst from nowhere and tumbled along the ground, rushing and billowing. The last plane tried to pull up to get clear but it was too close and was swept into the path of destruction. Fragments of metal and plastic and pieces of things I didn’t want to recognize bounced into the air and scattered debris across the field everywhere with flashing and sparking and the roar of sudden flames.

Someone was yelling.

The crash trucks were already rolling and Trent was running toward the wreckage. The yelling continued until I realized that I was the one yelling.
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nikita03
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Post by nikita03 »

Definitely yes!.
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HJ Hopkins
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Post by HJ Hopkins »

"We invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin, to the party". Can't remember who first came up with that one - a search shows it on about 40k pages - but it's always a fine example of why the Oxford Comma is A Very Good Idea!

:techie-studyingbrown:
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Oberon_61
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Post by Oberon_61 »

Yes! I prefer to use the Oxford comma for two reasons: one, it clarifies meaning, and two, the sound of an Oxford anything too tantalizingly posh to resist. It was required in my university writing courses. I will admit, however, that the extra pause suggested by the comma can sometimes sound a bit awkward, particularly in casual writing, in which case I will choose to omit it consistently throughout the text.
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LotusX
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Post by LotusX »

PLEASE, please yes! Some sentences just make no sense without one. Or worse, mean something completely different than the author intended.
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Dfinity
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Post by Dfinity »

At this point I'm sure it's pretty much decided. Pro-Oxford comma for life.
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usa_g
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Post by usa_g »

Yes, oxford comma or serial comma is widely used than not.
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Vogwenxtwin
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Post by Vogwenxtwin »

YES!!!!
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braver
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Post by braver »

A resounding yes! I was talking with a new friend recently and stopped the conversation in the middle of our discussion about writing, literature, and communications to find out how she felt about it - thankfully, our friendship could continue!
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mheard77
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Post by mheard77 »

Absolutely!

"We are going to learn to cut and paste kids!" or "We are going to learn to cut and paste, kids!"

Commas matter.
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FantasyWriter655
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Post by FantasyWriter655 »

I don't know how people get away without using the Oxford comma. My family would have my head on a spit if I didn't use it to it's full potential.
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braver
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Post by braver »

FantasyWriter655 wrote:I don't know how people get away without using the Oxford comma. My family would have my head on a spit if I didn't use it to it's full potential.
Your family sounds fabulous! :D
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Jessakibi
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Post by Jessakibi »

Sometimes it seems that what is right is a relative thing. I had a professor in college for a class where we wrote many, many papers. He was of the belief that the Oxford comma was indeed the extra comma before the "and", which I discovered after he marked down one of my papers for omitting it. I was very careful to include that extra comma in every applicable instance after that for all of my papers. My grades reflected his appreciation and I learned that in his class, right was what the professor says is right. In any case, Oxford or no, inserting a comma where it will help to clarify the meaning of a sentence is a good idea, regardless of what rule it demonstrates.
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Lincoln
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Post by Lincoln »

I am pretty sure by this point the debate has fallen apart and in general the oxford comma is a thriving grammatical rule.
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ammp116
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Post by ammp116 »

Oxford comma: Yes!
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