The Circles of Grammar Hell

Second Circle of Hell: The Serial Comma

“One half of this circle is populated by souls who are cursed to make arguments that nobody cares about except their own mothers, howling gorgons and the infernal mistresses of hell. The other half are cursed to make arguments that nobody cares about except their own mothers, howling gorgons, and the infernal mistresses of hell. The difference between these two situations seems to matter a lot to both halves. Neither side will listen to you when you suggest that they could avoid this level entirely.” [1]

Ah, the serial comma, otherwise known as the Oxford comma. Such a small mark to cause such large ructions. To put a comma before the last item in a series of 3 or more terms, or not? That is the question. To me, it’s a question of style as much as it is of good grammar, for no hard and fast rule can be applied because opinions on its use differ. American English tends to use it, and the Oxford Style Guide [2] advocates its use to avoid confusion, but many British English style guides do not require it. It can be useful to include a final comma in your list where you wish to bring particular emphasis to the final item. For example: ‘the woman sat knitting with her wool, needles, hooks, and all manner of bits and pieces around her’ reads differently to 'the woman sat knitting with her wool, needles, hooks and all manner of bits and pieces around her’. The former sentence gives subtle emphasis to the woman’s surroundings and to my reading conveys a richer scene than the latter sentence. That final comma requires you to give pause before that last item and in doing so sets up 'bits and pieces' with more importance, especially when you read it aloud.

It’s always useful to read your writing aloud, as it happens. Not just to check for the inclusion or otherwise of the Oxford comma, but also to check the cadence of your writing and to listen out for unexpected repetitions or for sentences that are too long. Commas, Oxford or otherwise, help break up sentences but shouldn’t be overused. If you’ve got too many of them, then perhaps your sentence is too long and needs to be cut down. A lesson I have to keep practising myself!

Happy commaing! (I love the English language. The way it allows you to just make up a new word at random. Though I suspect this one won’t be featuring as a verb in any English dictionary anytime soon!)