Yes, replaced by the Cambridge Colon. And the Harvard Hyphen.PashaRu wrote:Perhaps it was rendered obsolete by the Ivy League Interrobang.
Oxford Comma ~ Yes or No?
Moderator: Official Reviewer Representatives
- ALynnPowers
- Posts: 8536
- Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 07:14
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 417
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-alynnpowers.html
- Latest Review: Sarah's Dream by Eileen Bird
- Reading Device: B0051QVF7A
- Publishing Contest Votes: 13
Re: Oxford Comma ~ Yes or No?
- moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
- Bookshelf Size: 0
reminds me of "riverrun past eve and adam's..." for some reason (the first fragmentary sentence of Finnegans Wake.
And you're right it's a joke a good one and a nice one and funny and made me smile and...
- Scott
- Site Admin
- Posts: 4068
- Joined: 31 Jul 2006, 23:00
- Currently Reading: The Unbound Soul
- Bookshelf Size: 340
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-scott.html
- Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
- Publishing Contest Votes: 960
Hi, @moderntimesmoderntimes wrote:No, Scott, it's the actual official guide from Oxford University "Michaelmas term 2014" edition. Here's the actual link from the actual university. It's not a one-off guide at all. This of course adds to the confusion, as your book is clearly also from the auspices of that same university.
http://www.ox.ac.uk/public-affairs/style-guide
You are correct that you have uncovered a very interesting inconsistency.
The link for the style guide you found goes to a 30 page PDF, and the introduction states (emphasis added by me):
It's still an interesting case, so thank you for sharing.The Oxford University Style Guide aims to provide a guide to writing and
formatting documents written by staff on behalf of the University (or one
of its constituent departments etc). It is part of the University’s branding
toolkit (http://www.ox.ac.uk/branding_toolkit) which enables
the University’s formal documentation to be presented consistently across
all communications.
The style guide is not intended for public or external use, and does not
purport to compete with OUP’s professional writing guides and dictionaries
-- 14 Oct 2015 07:47 am --
You, will, read, all, the, posts, and, you, will, like, them,PashaRu wrote:If I read just a few more comments about what is or isn't the Oxford Comma I'm, going, to hurt, myself or, start to break, things.
And I, voted Yes,!,
-- 14 Oct 2015 07:47 am --
!
"Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco." Virgil, The Aeneid
- ALynnPowers
- Posts: 8536
- Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 07:14
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 417
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-alynnpowers.html
- Latest Review: Sarah's Dream by Eileen Bird
- Reading Device: B0051QVF7A
- Publishing Contest Votes: 13
http://global.oup.com/uk/academic/autho ... tyle/#lev4
Of course, this is just what the press requires for their publications. This doesn't say anywhere that another style is incorrect.
- PashaRu
- Posts: 9174
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 17:02
- Currently Reading: Vicars of Christ - The Dark Side of the Papacy
- Bookshelf Size: 191
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-pasharu.html
- Latest Review: "Damn Females on the Lawn" by Rachel Hurd
- ALynnPowers
- Posts: 8536
- Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 07:14
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 417
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-alynnpowers.html
- Latest Review: Sarah's Dream by Eileen Bird
- Reading Device: B0051QVF7A
- Publishing Contest Votes: 13
That is correct!PashaRu wrote:I now, have a rusty letter; opener sticking out of my, thigh. [
- PashaRu
- Posts: 9174
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 17:02
- Currently Reading: Vicars of Christ - The Dark Side of the Papacy
- Bookshelf Size: 191
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-pasharu.html
- Latest Review: "Damn Females on the Lawn" by Rachel Hurd
¿Yãy¡ALynnPowers wrote:That is correct!
۞
- ALynnPowers
- Posts: 8536
- Joined: 21 Aug 2014, 07:14
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 417
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-alynnpowers.html
- Latest Review: Sarah's Dream by Eileen Bird
- Reading Device: B0051QVF7A
- Publishing Contest Votes: 13
In that case, I've made a horrible error...
- moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
- Bookshelf Size: 0
I have grave suspicions now. This is a secret plot by the Brits who plan to drive their American rivals crazy with various inconsistencies. In other words, it's a typical university prank for which, if perpetrated upon fellow Brits, would get you quickly rusticated (sent down).
I suspect it's similar to the Chinese, who a few years ago suddenly changed all the phonetic spelling on the English-speaking world, insisting that we stop calling it Peking and instead start spelling it "Beijing" which makes no sense.
It's all a plot, folks! Believe me before I'm silenced by the black helicopters which are even now silently circling above my cozy Houston residence. I told my girlfriend about them but she only looked at me askance. Now I suspect even her. That roasted chicken she fixed for us last night tasted very strange. And yeah, she ate some herself, but there are secret antidotes, prepared of course in underground labs operated by Opus Dei and maybe even -- do we dare say it -- the Knights Templar? **
** Certain proof of the endgame to any conspiracy theory, that the root of all these secret societies are the Knights Templar. As evidenced in the very complex but wonderfully funny and ultimate guide to conspiracy theories, "Foucault's Pendulum" by Umberto Eco. It's one of my favorite books.
But enough catting around, gang. I'm about 11,000 words into my 4th novel now and I've got to get back to work.
It's been fun and I suppose we've learned that... that commas are used to help the sentence structure and that ironclad rules deserve to be sunk like the old naval ironclads of the last century.
Later, folks!
- bookowlie
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 9071
- Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
- Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
- Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
- Bookshelf Size: 442
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
- Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo
ALynnPowers wrote:It would be so funny if Scott uncovered the actual meaning behind this topic as like, "Oxford Comma: should we murder everyone who doesn't use it properly?? ~ Yes or No"
In that case, I've made a horrible error...
Can we murder anyone who continues to talk about it?
- moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
- Bookshelf Size: 0
I have to remind you that I've got a concealed carry permit and that I'm quite proficient with my blazing gat.bookowlie wrote:
Can we murder anyone who continues to talk about it?
Or is that blazing gut?
-
- Posts: 32
- Joined: 23 Aug 2015, 07:41
- Bookshelf Size: 2
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-divya-agarwal.html
-- 16 Oct 2015, 08:54 --
Very knowledgeable and healthy discussion. The use of 'Oxford Comma' is well explained. In fact it generated a good conversation in my own family.
- moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
- Bookshelf Size: 0
- Jausten11
- Posts: 60
- Joined: 27 Oct 2015, 11:36
- Favorite Book: sun also rises
- Currently Reading: All the Light We Cannot See
- Bookshelf Size: 79
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-jausten11.html
- moderntimes
- Posts: 2249
- Joined: 15 Mar 2014, 13:03
- Favorite Book: Ulysses by James Joyce
- Currently Reading: Grendel by John Gardner
- Bookshelf Size: 0
Jausten, in my 3 novels, I went thru all of them and deleted the comma prior to the "and" in a list of equal items although I've always used it and thought it more sensible. But US rules have changed in the last 20 years on this comma, certainly different from when I was writing news copy. Now the rule for both US and UK is to delete that comma. Whether it's actually the "Oxford comma" or that label belongs to another special use, remains a mystery.
Nevertheless, I adhered to the newer rule and edited my 3 novels accordingly, per my publisher's stylesheet.
But you're right -- I keep looking at the empty area where a comma "should" go and my right forefinger habitually reaches down for that ol' swoopy comma, and I often have to "slap hands" to stop myself. While writing my 4th novel, now in progress, I'm finally omitting that comma from the outset but the urge to push that key is still lurking deep in my subconscious.