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The Oxford comma may make or break your case

Commas are usually easier to slip into and out of than are comas.
 
Carnevil9 said:
"I dedicate this book to my parents, Ayn Rand and God."
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The example that’s been circling sci-fi author circles for decades now is (IIRC):

“I dedicate this book to my parents, L. Ron Hubbard and Jesus.”
 
Not to debate using or not using the Oxford comma, but if a comma is the difference between your sentence being clearly understood or woefully misinterpreted, you should probably rewrite the sentence.
 
Alice_Rosaleen said:
Not to debate using or not using the Oxford comma, but if a comma is the difference between your sentence being clearly understood or woefully misinterpreted, you should probably rewrite the sentence.
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But the purpose of a comma IS to make the meaning clearly understood. That's why we have punctuation, surely?
 
electricblue66 said:
But the purpose of a comma IS to make the meaning clearly understood. That's why we have punctuation, surely?
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Yes, but many of the issues in examples mentioned on this thread could be avoided if the list was just reordered. Even when commas or other forms of punctuation are used "correctly" a sentence can still be ambiguous or awkward. *In other words, punctuation can't make up for what's lacking in syntax, only make it flow better when used appropriately and consistently.
 
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Alice_Rosaleen said:
Yes, but many of the issues in examples mentioned on this thread could be avoided if the list was just reordered. Even when commas or other forms of punctuation are used "correctly" a sentence can still be ambiguous or awkward. *In other words, punctuation can't make up for what's lacking in syntax, only make it flow better when used appropriately and consistently.
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Examples?

I think this is sometimes true, maybe often true. But surely it's not always true. If a comma serves a useful or necessary function, and I think it does, then there will be at least some cases where its correct use makes the difference between confusion and clarity.
 
In this example for instance, in which Lady Gaga could also be specifying who the subject's mother is even though the Oxford comma is being used properly: I owe everything to my mom, Lady Gaga, and Snoop Dogg.

The clearest way to write it if you were concerned about any ambiguities would be: I owe everything to Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg, and my mom.

The same goes for situations in which you'd use a comma or an en-dash- yes, they offer clarity, but could your sentence also be simpler or clearer in the first place? For the record, I'm not a stickler about it but I do tend to use the Oxford comma. I just also know that when I edit my work critically, I see many commas, semi-colons or what have you's where better sentence structure is in order.
 
Commas and semicolons demarcate lists of items. They're grouping tools, like parens in maths. 2+2*4 is quite different as (2+2)*4 or 2+(2*4). The example uses a comma instead of an extra word: "I'd like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God" is clearer but wordier and more tedious as "...my parents AND Ayn Rand AND God."

Render not thy lists opaque. And don't stop listing things. We need lists.
 
Hypoxia said:
Commas and semicolons demarcate lists of items. They're grouping tools, like parens in maths. 2+2*4 is quite different as (2+2)*4 or 2+(2*4). The example uses a comma instead of an extra word: "I'd like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God" is clearer but wordier and more tedious as "...my parents AND Ayn Rand AND God."

Render not thy lists opaque. And don't stop listing things. We need lists.
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What's wrong with:-
"God, Ayn Rand and my parents"
 
Handley_Page said:
What's wrong with:-
"God, Ayn Rand and my parents"
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Nothing other than most publishers will put in the serial comma if they are publishing it. Why not use it for clarity and uniformity--and if you want to be published?
 
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Handley_Page said:
What's wrong with:-
"God, Ayn Rand and my parents"
Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with it in the sense that the meaning is clear in this example without the comma. But if you transpose the words, the meaning is no longer clear. For the sake of consistency, it makes sense to have one rule, and do it the same way all the time, even if the application of the rule will not clarify meaning in all cases. So the question is, which rule results in a net increase in clarity? I think using the comma adds clarity in more situations than omitting it does, so I like the rule. But it's not clear-cut.
 
"What's the matter, son? You can tell your god anything."

"God, Ayn Rand and my parents really screwed up my life."
 
Mike if this is you, I got the message. Roughly. More or less.

And I'm not much smarter than this so anything 'deeper' is going to have to be explained is if to a simple sailor.
 
electricblue66 said:
But the purpose of a comma IS to make the meaning clearly understood. That's why we have punctuation, surely?
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Bingo. And there's no particular reason to stand your phrasing on its head to avoid using a series.
 
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