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Punctuation confusion


Bendy Demon

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I was reading about rules of grammar and suchwhat and I happened across this bit of info on how to use commas.

According to the Oxford Dictionary (I think) You should use a comma after every item in a list.

For example "I had muffins, tea, and strawberries for lunch" the idea being that even though the strawberries are the last item and have 'and' before it I am still supposed to use a comma. This seems redundant considering that there is nothing more after the last item (meaning the strawberries).

I was under the impression that if I simply wrote "I had muffins, tea and strawberries for lunch" that this was acceptable as well. Which way is correct?

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I learned the same method that you describe but recently learned it is wrong, now.  My grammar is so poor in general that I don't worry so much about it.  I say what's on my mind, re-read it for whether it makes sense and that's the extent of my caution ;)

 

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I try to do well enough people can understand what I'm talking about and use paragraphs.  Want the same from others but I'm no grammar Nazi.  Actually you might have problems of your own if you are always calling people out on the slightest hint of bad grammar.

http://www.sciencealert.com/people-who-constantly-pick-up-grammar-mistakes-are-kinda-jerks-scientists-find

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Yeah, I figured that my way was fine. It just seemed clumsy to have a comma if the next word is 'and'.

"I seen a dog, four cats and a pheasant while driving." looks better than "I seen a dog, four cats, and a pheasant while driving".

I was not out to be picky but after reading a few things I was just wondering what is considered correct. No biggie...I like my method better.

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I pretend to be a grammar nazi at work, I'm not really though, I'm OK at punctuation although without a spell checker  I'd be illegible. 

I always though of a comma as something you place in where you'd have a natural pause if you were speaking aloud. I'm not sure if I put a comma before and, it seems right though. 

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That is a great question! I read about it also and my point of view is to use such punctuation:  "I had muffins, tea and strawberries for lunch"

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On 2017-01-09 at 6:23 PM, Ryu said:

I was reading about rules of grammar and suchwhat and I happened across this bit of info on how to use commas.

According to the Oxford Dictionary (I think) You should use a comma after every item in a list.

For example "I had muffins, tea, and strawberries for lunch" the idea being that even though the strawberries are the last item and have 'and' before it I am still supposed to use a comma. This seems redundant considering that there is nothing more after the last item (meaning the strawberries).

I was under the impression that if I simply wrote "I had muffins, tea and strawberries for lunch" that this was acceptable as well. Which way is correct?

The Oxford comma is essential when separating a list.

I had muffins, tea, and strawberries for lunch — indicates that the muffins, tea, and strawberries are separate meal items.

If you were to instead write: I had muffins, tea and strawberries for lunch, you would be grouping the tea and strawberries as one item.

zx1ILK8.jpg?1  eiXycEc.jpg

Edit: Yeah I know, I'm a jerk. :lol:

Edited by Claire.
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I was an English major in college at one point.   At first being on forums, chats, send simple texts would get my fingers itching and I would not get the meaning of the communication.  I had to learn to ignore it.  There are times some posts are just too disjointed and I will end up ignoring them.

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12 minutes ago, Claire. said:

The Oxford comma is essential when separating a list.

I had muffins, tea, and strawberries for lunch — indicates that the muffins, tea, and strawberries are separate food items.

If you were to instead write: I had muffins, tea and strawberries for lunch, you would be grouping the tea and strawberries as one item.

zx1ILK8.jpg?1  eiXycEc.jpg

Edit: Yeah I know, I'm a jerk. :lol:

So you are suppose to use a comma before 'and.'  I always thought that looked silly.  To me 'and' is a good separator.

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42 minutes ago, Ashotep said:

So you are suppose to use a comma before 'and.'  I always thought that looked silly.  To me 'and' is a good separator.

Admittedly, there are times when omitting the Oxford comma won't cause confusion, but it's necessary more often than it is not.

Here's the same sample sentence done both ways, but with photos illustrating each version.

I had muffins, tea, and strawberries for lunch. — The commas indicate that there are three meal items in the list (muffins, tea, and strawberries).

zx1ILK8.jpg?1       s9dgeEB.jpg?1      mcxp5Kj.jpg?1  

 

I had muffins, tea and strawberries for lunch. — There are just two meal items in this list (muffins, and tea and strawberries).

zx1ILK8.jpg?1       eiXycEc.jpg

 

Edited by Claire.
Grammatical correction lol.
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Although not 'list' related, I always liked this one. I'll omit pictures for obvious reasons :lol:

Let's eat grandpa.

Let's eat, grandpa.

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7 hours ago, Claire. said:

The Oxford comma is essential when separating a list.

I had muffins, tea, and strawberries for lunch — indicates that the muffins, tea, and strawberries are separate meal items.

If you were to instead write: I had muffins, tea and strawberries for lunch, you would be grouping the tea and strawberries as one item.

Hmm...still doesn't make much sense. If I was indicating the strawberries were in the tea as a single dish then wouldn't one say "I had tea with strawberries"?

 

 

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14 hours ago, Ryu said:

Hmm...still doesn't make much sense. If I was indicating the strawberries were in the tea as a single dish then wouldn't one say "I had tea with strawberries"?

You could I suppose (although that sentence could still be interpreted at least three different ways).

Here's a different example of why the Oxford comma is important:

I had tea with my parents, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

I had tea with my parents, Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton.

The first sentence, where the Oxford comma has been omitted, can be interpreted as stating your parents are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Assuming they are not your parents, the second sentence is correct.

Ultimately, I wouldn't sweat it too much. Just use the comma when you think it necessary to do so. or don't use it at all. Style guides differ on it anyway.

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  • 1 month later...

For those of you who questioned the importance of the Oxford comma:

A Missing Oxford Comma Just Changed the Course of a Court Case

Is a serial comma a critical tool for clear communication or unnecessary waste of space? Admit it: If you’re reading this, you probably have a strong opinion one way or the other. It turns out a United States Court of Appeals has opinions about Oxford commas, too. As Thu-Huong Ha reports for Quartz, a recent ruling handed down a victory for commas in court.

Read more: Smithsonian.com

:lol:

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