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Comma Queen
I’ve never used the serial comma, but after watching this, I’m rethinking it.
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10 comments for “Comma Queen”
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I am strict about serial comma usage, except, obviously, in instances like the one she shows from the Robert Frost poem. But in general, absolutely.
Really. I wonder where I got such an aversion to it.
Your background is journalistic, right? The Oxford/serial comma is typically not called for in journalism style guides (e.g., AP style) though the Chicago Manual of Style ‘strongly recommends’ it to prevent ambiguity. I write in my job and follow Chicago.
Part of it is a visual thing for me. It looks redundant.
I LOVE the serial comma (I use the term “Oxford” comma). In fact, I’ve had a conversation about this several times over the past few months.
What were the conversations like?
I have an aversion and agree it looks and feels redundant but am also rethinking this after this video. Oh dear, one more grammatical decision to perseverate about.
Today, a friend read something I wrote and told me it had way too many commas. I’ve since removed 5 of them and have no idea if the piece is now more or less grammatically correct.
Oh Wendy, this gives me such solace. I am way to hard on myself about commas and drive myself crazy.
Is your sense that you over or under comma?