Writesphere

  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • About
  • Services
  • Testimonials
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Random thoughts

Vampire Weekend were wrong! You really should give a (flip) about the Oxford comma.

22/3/2017

 
Picture


​In 2008, Vampire Weekend released the track "Oxford Comma", expressing their, erm, profound disdain for this piece of punctuation. Now a lawsuit in the USA has proved that they really ought to have treated it with a bit more respect.
Grammar pedants enjoyed a quiet moment of joy recently, when the Oxford comma hit the headlines. This much-maligned punctuation mark (or rather lack thereof) proved crucial in a case where three truck drivers were suing their employer for extra overtime. You can read more about the case in The New York Times.

What is the Oxford comma?
 
According to Oxford Dictionaries , the Oxford comma is so named because it was traditionally used by printers, readers, and editors at Oxford University Press. Not all writers and publishers use it, but it can clarify the meaning of a sentence when the items in a list are not single words.
 
How do you use the Oxford comma?
 
The Oxford comma is used for clarification before and or or in a list of three or more things.

  • I was on the bus with my husband, a thief and a compulsive liar.
  • I was on the bus with my husband, a thief, and a compulsive liar.
 
The second sentence – with the Oxford comma – makes it clear that there were four people on the bus, rather than just one poor soul and their rogue of a spouse!
 
Omissions of the Oxford comma have been causing humour to the grammatically anal for many years. For example:

  • Highlights of Peter Ustinov's global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year old demi-god and a dildo collector.

Who knew? The mind boggles...

"So, Lizzie, do you have any other favourite punctuation marks, or points or grammar?"

Well, that's jolly kind of you to ask, and yes, in fact I have many. ("Of course you do," thinks my long-suffering reader, as they roll their eyes.)

Let's leave aside the nails-down-the blackboard of your vs. you're - of which, more in a later blog post - and  instead take a look at who vs. whom.

In simple terms, look at your sentence and if you could swap in he, she or they, then use who. If you could swap in him, her or them, then use whom. For example:

  • Who stole the treasure?
  • The treasure was stolen by whom?

I'm a copywriter and, as such, it's my job to obsess about stuff like this. Although this means that I'm excruciating company sometimes, being able to use these nerdy tendencies for my clients' benefit is actually quite satisfying. I take pride in knowing that their marketing materials have a distinctive professional touch, which could give them the edge over the so-called competition, who might lack that same attention to detail.

Comments are closed.

    Author - Lizzie Brandon

    Archives

    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    Blogging
    Business North Harbour FYI
    Case Studies
    Copywriting
    Grammar
    Punctuation
    ShoreLines
    The Engine
    Tips
    Training

    RSS Feed

Picture

Contact Us

E: lizzie@writesphere.co.nz
Ph: (09) 475 6857
M: 021 0297 3443

Picture
Writesphere Ltd's Terms of Trade
Website developed by Outbox Ltd