Court settles debate thats divided grammar nerds for decades (the oxford comma)

[steve2470]

http://mashable.com/2017/03/15/oxford-comma-changes-court-case/#7nBlnC6wbSqw

Ah, the Oxford comma. Journalists often fight over it, academics love it and a lot of people don't care about or even know what it is. But this singular bit of punctuation is actually super important.

Just ask a couple dairy drivers in Maine who recently won a labor case and overtime pay — all because of the state's failure to slip in that crucial piece of punctuation into its labor policy guidelines.

If you don't already know, the Oxford comma is the last one in a series, such as in the sentence: "I like to run, skip, and jump." Take out that Oxford comma and the sentence reads like this: "I like to run, skip and jump." Sometimes, the lack of a comma can leave ambiguity in the sentence.

So what does this have to do with a bunch of workers trying to get overtime pay?

more at link

[Warpy]

1. Three cheers for the Oxford comma

[steve2470]

2. great graphic, thanks! :) nt

[unblock]

5. Haha! Now that's a legitimate difference

Much as I support giving drivers overtime, I'm not sure I agree with the legal:grammatical analysis in this case.

I think it's clearly just a style difference, at least given only this much information. In order to interpret the sentence as the judge did, you'd have to think the law omitted another "or" before the last comma (a, b, or c or d).

Of course, it might be more clear if similar lists appeared elsewhere in the law, so as to establish cif they were consistently using or eschewing the oxford comma....

[brush]

6. In the second example why is the comma needed at all?

[Kimchijeon]

9. Ha!

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Here's an example I cite often

'Also in attendance were Merle Haggard's two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.'

Practically begs for the Oxford comma, doesn't it?

[steve2470]

4. yep! nt

[brush]

7. Sorry, but why wouldn't the two ex-wives be named...for clarity?

[trof]

8. Oh HELL yes!

Another blow struck for freedom!1!!