The Oxford Comma Panic of 2011
In which a PR style guide sets off a series of impassioned discussions on the importance of the Oxford comma.
- The University of Oxford online style guide that launched the rumor that the University had changed its stance on the Oxford comma...
Punctuation - University of OxfordHyphenation generally depends on the word's or words' role in a sentence. There isn't a hard-and-fast rule for the hyphenation of compoun...- June 29, 2011 One of the stories reporting Oxford dropping the Oxford comma.
Oxford Comma Dropped: University of Oxford Styleguide Says No To Serial CommaIt seems like the Oxford comma's days are numbered. The University of Oxford styleguide has decided that as 'a general rule' use of the s...- June 30, 2011 Mary Elizabeth Williams responds in Salon."The last time the nerd community was this cruelly betrayed, George Lucas was sitting at his desk, thinking, 'I shall call him Jar Jar.'"
Don't kill the Oxford comma!The university hands down a new edict about punctuation -- but the world's grammar nerds will never back down- June 30, 2011 The response prompted the clarification that the cited style guide was relevant only to "press releases and internal communications" (anyone else think that an odd pairing?) in a now-inaccessible article in the San Jose Mercury News (Why? We don't know). The Oxford University Press, minders of Hart's Rules (i.e., The "real" Oxford style guide), confirms via blog post that it remains steadfast in its commitment to "retain or impose" the Oxford comma....
The Oxford Comma: Hart's RulesThe presence or lack of a comma before and or or in a list of three or more items is the subject of much debate. Such a comma is known as...- June 30, 2011 Linda Holmes of NPR, who admits that she uses the Oxford comma "at home," but is required to drop it at work (NPR uses AP style): "Whether the serial comma is used is usually not a big deal[...] But when it matters, it really matters."
Going, Going, And Gone?: No, The Oxford Comma Is Safe ... For Now : NPRI have a confession. I am only too happy to emphatically defend split infinitives against the accusation that they are offensive in any l...- April 19, 2012 And the piece that prompted me to compile this story... posted nearly a year later...
xoJane - The xoJane Punctuation Wars: You Will Pry My Oxford Comma From My Cold, Dead HandsThose who follow @msemilymccombs and @sesmithwrites on Twitter are periodically subjected to a bout of robust debate over the Oxford comm...- Interwebs votes yes....
