And

[Trionyx]

It appears to my feeble eyes that the bottom characters were indeed JFK and Stalin. See haircut and mustache.

There are clearly differences in opinion about the commas before the ‘ands.’ Different writers will use the comma and others won’t. My point was that the second drawing does not necessarily reflect what is written (what is written could just as easily describe the first drawing, depending on the author and his/her usage) and that the use of the colon definitely clears up any possible confusion.

 

[KeithD]

I

There are clearly differences in opinion about the commas before the ‘ands.’ Different writers will use the comma and others won’t.

Standards aren't opinions. Opinions are fine if you have the final say or if the one who does have the final say is fine with your opinion. Laurel is, I think, lenient on the serial comma issue. Most publishers aren't. Most publishers use the serial comma as the standard, and your opinion doesn't reign.

 

[PennameWombat]

Standards aren't opinions. Opinions are fine if you have the final say or if the one who does have the final say is fine with your opinion. Laurel is, I think, lenient on the serial comma issue. Most publishers aren't. Most publishers use the serial comma as the standard, and your opinion doesn't reign.

Try being an American in Australia. I attended a short session at the local Uni around editing standards to better acquaint myself with 'Strine.'

The guidance here:

When Do I Use the Serial Comma?
The simple answer is that in Australia and New Zealand, we don’t routinely make use of the serial comma. That means you definitely don’t put it before every ‘and’ in a list of more than two items. In fact, we only use it when it is necessary for clarity or to avoid confusion.

And to American usage:

Guides such as APA and Chicago use American punctuation because they were originally created by American institutions for an American audience. When Australian institutions have adopted them, many of them have failed to correctly alter their guides to reflect the correct use of British/Australian English.

In any case, at the workshop I brought up this point, and it rather distracted the room for a while. Given the ubiquity of American companies, etc., lots of local stuff ends up being American, or per this quote, some sort of mutant, so locals who have to work with the stuff run into this.

Out of habit I tend to use the serial comma in my Lit stories, although they're not that common. I know Laurel rejects for grammar/formatting, but I have difficulty believing that if that's the only issue she'd care.

 

[KeithD]

The APA is not an authority for fiction. It's for science nonfiction.

American usage is relevant at Literotica. This is a U.S.-based site and it uses the American system itself in what it posts to the Web site. I think Laurel makes an effort to let the British system be used, but that doesn't mean she fully understands the complexities of the British system. Thus, we get occasional complaints from British and Australian/New Zealand writers on rejections for what they've properly used in their systems. It remains, though, that this is a U.S. based site using the American system in its own content posting.

 

[slutindianwife]

And they lived happily ever after

 

[Zeb_Carter]

In the first case, you're using "then" as a conjunction, which it isn't. I've read the argument that the construction should be acceptable because the "and" that should precede "then" is implied.

My knee jerk is to write it with ", then", then I go back and take the comma out or rewrite the sentence.

The second example, which you say Grammarly wants, seems wrong to me. "then Jenny got off of him." is an independent clause, so the "and" should be preceded by a comma.

I think the third form, with the semicolon, is correct. I wouldn't use a semicolon in that case, but I think it's correct.

That was my thinking also and as I don't like to use semicolons, I'll stick with the first way or split them up into two sentences, which I have done in the past.

Thanks though, for confirming my thoughts.

 

[LilyWaters]

I was taught that when a sentence includes a list, as in



That the "and" in the last list item was required. Is that still a thing?

In context, and in several other contexts lately, I've wanted to omit that "and."

If you were writing a formal essay, I'd say yes.

But in erotic writing, I think omitting the "and" in a list of things can heighten the sense of immediacy. In the case of erotic writing, I think it's a good way to communicate that sort of dreamlike state that come from being totally in your body in the moment. For example, "his hands ran over my shoulders, my breasts, my stomach" is hotter without the "and." "And" makes it sound like more of a listing of body parts to me, whereas removing it makes it seem like his hands are constantly moving over her body. Just my two cents.