Oxford Comma

[Guest Lisa Musil]

I am attempting to see if the Oxford Comma is important in my Minutes.  The Oxford Comma seems to be the topic of many discussions and I see various opinions on this.  I'm finding that I am prompted to add a comma in places I do not usually add a comma.  After doing a search for proper english it seems both the presence and absence of the Oxford Comma are proper.  Does anyone have some experience with their Minutes on how to, if and/or when to use the Oxford Comma?

[Dan Honemann]

On 3/16/2023 at 11:39 AM, Guest Lisa Musil said:

I am attempting to see if the Oxford Comma is important in my Minutes.  The Oxford Comma seems to be the topic of many discussions and I see various opinions on this.  I'm finding that I am prompted to add a comma in places I do not usually add a comma.  After doing a search for proper english it seems both the presence and absence of the Oxford Comma are proper.  Does anyone have some experience with their Minutes on how to, if and/or when to use the Oxford Comma?

Parliamentary law has nothing to say on this subject.

[Weldon Merritt]

Agreeing with Mr. Honemann, I will note (for whatever it is worth) that RONR uses it, at least in the several passages I have checked. 

Personally, I always use it (unless I omit it by accident). My reasoning is that its absence can sometimes lead to confusion, but its presence never does (or at least I can't think of any way that it would).

[Gary Novosielski]

On 3/16/2023 at 11:39 AM, Guest Lisa Musil said:

I am attempting to see if the Oxford Comma is important in my Minutes.  The Oxford Comma seems to be the topic of many discussions and I see various opinions on this.  I'm finding that I am prompted to add a comma in places I do not usually add a comma.  After doing a search for proper english it seems both the presence and absence of the Oxford Comma are proper.  Does anyone have some experience with their Minutes on how to, if and/or when to use the Oxford Comma?

The Oxford comma is purely a matter of style, and writers can be divided into two camps:  Those that endorse its use, and those that deprecate it.  For clarity, these camps can be referred to as Right and Wrong, respectively. 😀

I'm in @Weldon Merritt's camp, i.e., Right.  I never intentionally omit an Oxford comma--if for no other reason than to avoid the need to examine the language to see if it's clear.  Just put it in and be done with it.  That way you never accidentally end up with nonsense sentences such as:

I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty.

Edited March 16, 2023 at 10:39 PM by Gary Novosielski

[Phil D]

As a proponent of both the Oxford Comma and objectivity, I would be remiss not to point out that the Oxford Comma can be a cause for ambiguity where it may be mistaken for an appositive. To mutate Mr. Novosielski's example: "I love my mother, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty," leaves ambiguous whether I am giving you a list of three things or telling you that my mother is Lady Gaga and I also love Humpty Dumpty. All of which is to say that RONR is no help to you here, and you should take care to avoid comma-related ambiguities regardless of your feelings on the Oxford Comma--which, I like others, maintain is correct, right, and true.