That Dastardly Comma

At work yesterday, I was amazed (and somewhat delighted) when an entire discussion broke out about commas. Specifically, the use of the "Oxford comma," also known as the "serial comma," in a list of words.

If you need a quick refresher, here's what I am talking about:

• Serial (Oxford) comma:
  
  I ate cookies, ice cream, and cake. (Comma before "and")
  
  
• No serial comma:
  
  I ate cookies, ice cream and cake. (No comma before "and")

In our discussion at work, one gentleman insisted that the "Oxford comma" was the one, true comma. The one comma to rule them all. The way, the truth, and the comma. I mean, this guy was preaching the Gospel of the Comma. He waved a tablet with the 10 Commandments, and one of them was about commas.

For the record, he's wrong. Neither of the two options above is incorrect. Like many points of punctuation, it depends what style guide you are using. For instance, the Chicago Manual promotes the serial comma, whereas the Associated Press manual advises leaving it out.

So never fear. If you like to put a comma before the "and," it's cool. If you leave it out, that's cool too. And if some know-it-all tries to shut you down, just point to your style guide of choice and say, "SEE?"

Don't Quit Your Day Job

On a related topic, sometimes it amazes me how passionate people can get over punctuation, grammar, pronunciation and spelling (especially on the web, where it's easy to cast manners to the wind). The way some people act, you'd think you had spit on their grandmother rather than using "you're" when you meant "your." Fights break out. Name-calling ensues. I've seen it happen on many a web page.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's bad to care about punctuation and grammar. Far from it! But there is such a thing as caring TOO MUCH. My advice: If you are so full of righteous indignation and desire to improve the world that you must accost a stranger about points of grammar, join the Peace Corps. Leave the proofreading to the professionals, who will do it subtly, via tracked changes.