There’s been much ado about nothing today.
Who knew a little punctuation could cause so much grief?
The University of Oxford styleguide (PR edition) no longer supports the use of the Oxford Comma (street name: serial comma).
Big whoop.
For those of you feeling much maligned about the superfluous punctuation’s untimely end, allow me to remind you that we live in Canada. Up here in the True North Strong And Free, the media (for the most part) abides by this little thing called CP Style. In CP Style, the Oxford Comma is banned. Thus, there really isn’t a whole lot to be upset about. You probably don’t see a whole lot of the little guy anyway.
Want to get your fix?
You can likely find the Oxford Comma…
- in the Toronto Star (they don’t use CP Style)
- in your third grade paper (you got in trouble if you didn’t use one)
- in your university paper (Oxford Commas are abundant at the end of 400-word sentences)
- in bad press releases (at PR Skool, they teach you that serial commas are a no-no. See: above comment about CP style)
Relax. Take it easy.
PS. Are you still really freaking out? You can still use it for “clarity”, as in “Today for breakfast I had toast, bacon, green eggs and ham, and orange juice”.
