@AnneTheWriter1 you got a follow for many reasons but also, as a fellow writer, love your intro. #OxfordCommas

Didn't use to like them and then.. technical writing taught me why they are essential and avoid confusion. Even in the legal sense, they prevent court cases and save lives.
#languagenerd #grammar #linguistics #writing #techwriting

@nf3xn
Good point. But if I may put forward some examples of missing #OxfordCommas:

"We went caroling with our dogs, Bob and Emma."
(The dogs are not named Bob and Emma.)

"They had dinner with two of Liz Taylor's ex-husbands, Robert Duvall and Robert Redford."
(In actuality, the group was four people, and Robert Duvall and Robert Redford are not among her many ex-husbands.)

Yes, these could also be sorted out by reorganizing the word order, but the mere additional of a comma makes that unnecessary.

In summary:
Type 1 people: Yeah, nah. SCs are not as obviously right as many of you seem to think.
Type 2 people: Right on!
Type 3 people: You are probably the happiest and sanest of the three.

#SerialCommas #OxfordCommas #Typology 4/4

...
d. An SC can be confused with a different type of comma, such as one introducing a clause with a new subject. That happened with a novel I was reading; I had to reread the sentence to make sense of it. (Alas, I didn’t write it down for future reference).
e. Unless unavoidable, SCs are not generally used in formal New Zealand writing – it seems to be similar in Australia and the UK.

#SerialCommas #OxfordCommas #Typology 3/4

I am very much a Type #2 person because:
a. SCs are ugly and mostly unnecessary. No one writes “cabbages, and carrots” so why should I write “beans, cabbages, and carrots”?
b. SCs don’t avoid ambiguity as universally as Type #1 people think – see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma#Ambiguity
c. If there’s ambiguity, rewording is usually better than putting so much reliance on a tiny punctuation mark to fix things.

Continued...

#SerialCommas #OxfordCommas #Typology 2/4

At our university, we have writing styles that require* or discourage** using serial commas (SCs; aka Oxford commas).

I often joke with students that there are three kinds of people in the world:
#1 Those who love SCs.
#2 Those who dislike SCs.
#3 And the vast majority of people: those who don’t know what an SC is and don’t care.

* e.g., APA https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/punctuation/serial-comma
** e.g., NZLSG https://www.austlii.community/foswiki/NZLawSG/GeneralRulesMainText#Punctuation

#SerialCommas #OxfordCommas #Typology 1/4

@timcorrimal One of my all-time favorites!
#grammar #oxfordcommas

I haven't done my #introduction on #hachyderm as I just transfered from https://c.im/ so here goes:

I'm a father, husband, and software engineer at VMware working in #golang #rustlang.

I'm interested in #systems, #adventuremotorcycle, #eurorack, #synth, #music, #mechanicalkeyboard, #scifi, #poetry, #oxfordcommas, and #cardgames

#Introduction Early adopter who used Mosaic ('95?) to browse over CompuServe dialup; joined other social media platforms in about 2007. Never trying to influence anyone. I bake bread sometimes, too.


Likes: #Integrity #Architecture #Cats #Baseball #AsburyPark #HighgateCemetery #OxfordCommas #Cathedrals #TheyMightBeGiants #Haiku #Satire #Scotland


Dislikes: #Jingoism #Religion #Gin #SplitInfinitives #ChewingGum #Bigots #MusicOnShuffle #BeingCalledMrs

#Introduction Early adopter who used Mosaic ('95?) to browse over CompuServe dialup; joined other social media platforms in about 2007. Never trying to influence anyone. I bake bread sometimes, too.


Likes: #Integrity #Architecture #Cats #Baseball #Asbury Park #HighgateCemetery #OxfordCommas #Cathedrals #TheyMightBeGiants #Haiku #Satire #Scotland


Dislikes: #Jingoism #Religion #Gin #SplitInfinitives #ChewingGum #Bigots #MusicOnShuffle #BeingCalledMrs

#introduction for non #hams

Look... my main hobby is #hamradio which is all about making magic radio pixies fling off of wires and catching the pixies others fling around. It's a big #hobby with all kinds of #fun things to learn and explore.

I also do other stuff like read #history and #scifi, #hike up mountains, use #oxfordcommas, and ride my #bicycle to work. I'm also a #dad of a 10yo human and a #husband. Life's hard and too short... I try to be #nice and #learn while I'm here.

I thought I would intro myself, since I’m new here. 👋

I absolutely love #knitting , #pottery , #gardening , #printmaking , #hiking , #cooking , #sewing , #oxfordcommas , and I am a self proclaimed #film nerd.

Here are some things you might expect to see from me.