The three most controversial things in this world are politics, religion, and the Oxford comma.
The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, appears before the last item in a series of three or more words or phrases. Some may not understand the significance of one of the littlest punctuation marks. Writers, editors, English professors, grammar enthusiasts, and Facebook junkies, however, seem to be fascinated by this stylistic quirk.
The controversy surrounding the Oxford comma stems, in part, from the tension between concision and clarity in writing. Disciples of the concision school of thought advocate for the Spartan elimination of all but the most essential punctuation marks, while those dedicated to clarity are more inclined to accept anything that makes the meaning of a sentence as clear as possible.
“There are some circumstances where it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference,” Associate Professor of English Dwight Lindley said.
There have, however, been real-world consequences of its omission. In a 2014 legal dispute, drivers for Oakhurst Dairy in Maine argued that they had been shorted overtime pay based on ambiguity in their state laws. State laws in Maine require that workers be paid time-and-a-half for every hour worked past 40 hours, with a few exceptions codified in the law.
The law originally said that overtime pay exemptions applied to “the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: agricultural produce; meat and fish products; and perishable foods.”
The lack of a comma between “packing for shipment” and “distribution of” caused the most confusion. It suggested that distributors, or drivers, are not exempt from receiving overtime pay. Adding a comma would clarify that the law did in fact intend to exempt drivers from the additional pay.
The drivers won the case due to the ambiguities caused by the missing comma and Oakhurst Dairy paid up to $5 million.
Legal disputes aside, “a comma could save a life,” according to Jason Peters, associate professor of English. A classic example is the sentence, “let’s eat, grandma.” One shudders at the thought of grandma’s fate without that little comma.
Those in the pro-serial comma school of thought tend to be rather absolute about their position.
“I think logic requires it, as much as I’m a believer in concision and removing punctuation that’s not necessary,” said John Miller, director of the Dow Journalism Program.
Peters is similarly iron-fisted in his use of the Oxford comma.
“It looks prettier on the page, which I think is perfectly reasonable,” Peters said. “I don’t like books that are the wrong shape, that give you a hernia in your hand after you hold them for a while. The type shouldn’t offend your eyes.”
Even without turning to an argument for beauty, associate professor of English Dutton Kearney advocated for its importance.
“It allows you to write a more complex sentence, and it adds clarity to a sentence,” Kearney said. “You know exactly what’s being talked about. I want to bring back the 12-15 sentence paragraph, and the Oxford comma can do that.”
Kearney said sentences without an Oxford comma take some extra effort to understand and interrupt the reader’s flow.
In the journalism world, the use of the serial comma is not common practice. The strongest argument for this position is that any potentially unnecessary words, paragraphs, or even punctuation marks should be cut for the sake of brevity.
“I’m a rule follower, and the Associated Press style guide (the journalist’s bible) says to not use the serial comma unless it’s needed for clarity, so I don’t,” said Maria Servold, assistant director of the Dow Journalism Program. “That said, there are clearly times when the serial comma is needed. I’d rather use the comma and be clear than confuse the reader.”
Regarding journalism’s emphasis on concision, Kearney said he questions whether writing should be minimal.
“Let’s savor the sentence,” he said.
Lindley, though generally in favor of the Oxford comma, said he feels some hesitancy about applying rules to everything.
“Language becomes a living thing that doesn’t fit into a box,” Lindley said. “The best authors make language flex and change and move.”
Shakespeare changed the spelling of his name almost every time he wrote it, Lindley said, so it seems that consistent rules are not antecedent to excellent writing. Miller agreed that language continually changes.
“Language doesn’t change on its own. We change it,” Miller said. “Ultimately, these are choices. We’re shaping language, and this is one change in language that I think is worth doing and it should be our habit.”
Strunk and White, the prime deities in the pantheon of journalistic and academic writing, are pro-serial comma.
“In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last,” Strunk and White wrote in “The Elements of Style.”
Pro-comma Peters succinctly summarized the views of the anti-comma crowd.
“I guess they have the right to be wrong, but someone ought to tell them they’re wrong.”