Grammar is important, kids!

Fryth · 11 months

My favourite example is still "I'd like to dedicate this award to my parents, Ayn Rand and God."

temp42704 · 11 months

According to wikipedia, the Oxford comma could still lead to ambiguity.

For example, "We invited the stripper, Jackie O, and Stalin.". Is Jackie O a stripper in this sentence or did you invite three people?

Rooster10 · 11 months

The fuck. Picture giving grammar lessons, but doesn't capitalize proper nouns. Setting a great example there.

sciencenerd86 · 11 months

Grammar is important:

Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse & helping your uncle jack off a horse.

TheLastGunslinger · 11 months

Ah, the Oxford comma, one of several things I was told to never use as a journalism student. Screw you Associated Press Handbook! You don't control me!

relevant_rule34 · 11 months

This is a graph of "Comma Sutra" - NSFW

funkbitch · 11 months

It took me a long time to realize those guys were supposed to be JFK and Stalin. They don't look anything like them.

Spazit · 11 months

I've checked google reverse image search, tineye, and karma decay.

Is this... is it really... could this be original content? On /r/funny? I tip my hat to you, sir.

my_back_pages · 11 months

The Oxford comma is not a grammatical choice; it is a stylistic choice.

matlick · 11 months

When you are omitting Oxford commas as a style or policy, you still add them where necessary to prevent ambiguities.

set123 · 11 months

This graphic is actually incorrect. If you were trying to say you invited strippers named JFK and Stalin, you would use a colon.

So the second sentence is actually punctuated correctly - assuming you're trying to list three invitees.

EDIT: Even though it's technically correct, the second sentence is potentially confusing. If you don't want to use the Oxford comma, the best solution would be to write, "We invited JFK, Stalin and the strippers." If you do want to use the Oxford comma, you still can change the order of the list; but it matters less.

gentlebot · 11 months

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?

[deleted] · 11 months

I'm friends with an copy editor at a newspaper. The paper goes by AP style, which doesn't use the Oxford comma. We've fought over this.

shatteredmindofbob · 11 months

Here is a proper example of why grammar is important.

bli · 11 months

Capitalization is the difference between:

I helped my Uncle Jack off a horse.

and

I helped my uncle jack off a horse.

hoboslayer · 11 months

I was always taught it was optional. Whooops.

malcolmwhy · 11 months

Stripper JFK makes a way better story.

IamWisdom · 11 months

this isn't grammar this is punctuation. Americans don't know anything about grammar unless they've taken foreign language.

Trobot087 · 11 months

Second sentence is ambiguous. The proper formulation for sentence 2 would be to make it a colon instead of a first comma.

"We invited the strippers: JFK and Stalin."

cyanure · 11 months

Why not say "I invited JFK, Stalin and the stripers"?

kevinstonge · 11 months

Thank you for this post. I had always been taught to use the Oxford comma but nobody ever taught me the reason why. I had also gotten into the habit of using it because it just seemed right. However, in the past few years I have seen it omitted in many professional publications and intuitively assumed that it was some antiquated grammatical style and that using it was just wasting a keystroke. This post has changed my mind about the Oxford comma's value and usefulness. I will resume using the Oxford comma immediately and encourage anyone who might ask me about it to do the same.

Valiturus · 11 months

Here's the best argument I heard in favor of the Oxford comma:

Imagine four programmers agreed to profit-share on a joint project. The paperwork stating their profit-sharing could be written with or without the Oxford comma, as such:

"All profits from this project will be evenly shared between Dave, Judy, Frank, and Bob."

"All profits from this project will be evenly shared between Dave, Judy, Frank and Bob."

If I'm Frank or Bob, I think I'd want the Oxford comma in that contract.

evrtgurnot · 11 months

Take that, Vampire Weekend!

SucculentStanley · 11 months

seriously man, that just blew my fucking mind.

RobinHood21 · 11 months

Grammer is important, but I have an undying tendencies to not use a comma before and in the last subject of a list. Mainly from journalism - if there are any other journalism students reading this thread, they know that in an industry where tightness and conciseness is a virtue we try to remove as many unneeded words or symbols as possible. The Oxford comma is out the door.

[deleted] · 11 months

Was Stalin always that hot?

Eat_Pray_K1LL · 11 months

I KNEW IT! My high school English teachers would mock me and other kids in class thought I was being stupid but I knew somewhere deep down in my heart there had to be a that "extra" comma before "and".

Freddy Mercury fist-in-the-air pose

spamato · 11 months

You can keep that extra comma Oxford. The second scenario suits me just fine.

go4it7arh · 11 months

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?

squidsqueg · 11 months

The stripper Stalin looks like Freddie Mercury :3

saffir · 11 months

Wow, I read that as "We invented strippers, etc." and was thoroughly confused throughout the comic

conn1e · 11 months

I read those as the same sentence. I got told in primary school (when one learns grammer) that this "oxford comma" is not to be used, and I never have. I subsiquently read them the same.

Josh2021 · 11 months

I was taught it didn't matter. I'll use it now.

PlatonicTroglodyte · 11 months

Using Reddit as a metaphor for real life, I mentally downvote people who don't use the Oxford comma.

CaptainExtravaganza · 11 months

Just rewrite the sentence and everyone wins.

"We invited JFK, Stalin and the strippers."

Ambiguity gone. No fucking Oxford comma.

solistus · 11 months

The Oxford comma can eliminate grammatical ambiguity in a few special cases, but it creates ambiguity in even more. This example is a special case that only applies when a list of exactly three items starts with a plural, and the rest of the list in its entirety could also be interpreted as an appositive. Take this counter-example:

This book is dedicated to my mother, Ayn Rand, and God.

Assume this is meant to be a list of 'my mother', 'Ayn Rand' and 'God'. Thanks to the Oxford comma, it can be misinterpreted instead as 'my mother, Ayn Rand' and 'God'. In the OP's example, simply change 'strippers' to 'stripper' and the Oxford comma is once again adding ambiguity rather than avoiding it.

If the list has more than three items, then it will have multiple commas even if the Oxford comma is omitted, which makes it unambiguously a list. Once we know it's a list separated by commas, we know not to misinterpret the last clause as an appositive; any time a list has one or more items being modified by a subordinate clause, one should use semicolons to separate list items instead of commas. An example to illustrate:

my parents, Jack and Jill

This could be a list of three objects, or it could be a single object 'my parents' who are named Jack and Jill. However, if the list is 4 or more items long:

my sister, my brother, my parents, Jack and Jill

Then, no matter how we interpret the last clause, it's still a list. Now that we know it's a list, we know the last comma and the clause 'Jack and Jill' which follows it have to be items on the list and not a subordinate clause modifying 'my parents'. The latter case should be written like this:

my sister; my brother; and my parents, Jack and Jill

jonnyrotten7 · 11 months

Actually not true. Chicago Style, which is the style guide used for all journalism, omits the oxford comma.

golightlyholly · 11 months

AP style, bro.

FoxHoundUnit89 · 11 months

Damn right, I hate that people are leaving that last comma off.

latecraigy · 11 months

But what about just a basic list. Nobody ever covers that.

John, Peter, Harry, Nancy, Mary and Joe. OR: John, Peter, Harry, Nancy, Mary, and Joe.

Which is it?

FlyingCrunkman · 11 months

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?

pmickel · 11 months

[deleted]

certaindamagedlemons · 11 months

I regularly and consistently omit the last comma in a list unless it is absolutely necessary to convey the intended meaning.

tallandlanky · 11 months

I always suspected JFK of cross dressing.

gatta_be_kd · 11 months

A colon can only be used after an independent clause.... "with/without the oxford comma" is not one.

ramennoodles21 · 11 months

Boston University's College of Communication prohibited any usage of the Oxford comma in submitted papers. I read this now and remain convinced that my school had its head up its ass.

roysourboy · 11 months

I always use the Oxford comma, I guess it's just habit. But apparently it's not used much anymore.

ravendta · 11 months

I DOES GOOD TALKING WITH WORDS TO PAPER.

ImKrispy · 11 months

I'm intelligent and this is intelligent, I approve

slightlynerdy · 11 months

No, Stalin, no! Leave that thong ON!

companyhen · 11 months

I don't like using an oxford comma, personally.

Gramarchist · 11 months

I feel like I'm supposed to be doing something here.

DWedberg · 11 months

My English teacher lied to me, then.

pokeyjones · 11 months

i feel really old and stupid right now

[7.5]

hxcobd · 11 months

Thank you for posting this. None of my coworkers use the oxford comma and it drives me fucking insane.

dtaylor28 · 11 months

haha, i always tell people that the Oxford comma should always be used, but no one ever listens. finally, a perfect illustration of how it can go wrong!

[deleted] · 11 months

There is no such thing as an Oxford comma in German. What about other languages?

FriendlyCylon · 11 months

The Oxford Comma, the best a man can get.

Anything else would be uncivilized.

TrickShop · 11 months

Could just us a semi colon

DoItForMeMeow · 11 months

I give a fuck about an oxford comma

MrDanger · 11 months

Punctuation and usage are important, too.

EffinPyro · 11 months

Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW7bB8D_mAY

bbear122 · 11 months

Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma?

[deleted] · 11 months

Give credit where credit is due: source

Why the OP decided to remove/not to include the original artist's Tumblr url originally in the bottom of the image, I've not a clue.

misterthirsty · 11 months

This looks like a Brad Neely comic strip.

Dubsey · 11 months

Fuck the Oxford comma.

Yes, I am drunk.

But seriously, fuck the Oxford comma.

RDandersen · 11 months

Is the meaning of the second picture what colons are for?

dclowd9901 · 11 months

AP style > oxford

HolySpirit · 11 months

Or you could just speak Lojban, and then avoid all grammatical ambiguity both in speech and in writing.

KingOfMeh · 11 months

What now, Vampire Weekend?

taktubu · 11 months

Punctuation, not grammar.

Kream · 11 months

Pfft. As an ex-editor for a newsmagazine, the Oxford comma is not required. To imply that jfk and stalin were the strippers in question, the sentence would have to be, "We invited the strippers JFK and Stalin.

jonjt · 11 months

Isn't this actually a point of contention among the most erudite of our liteary elite? I've been told that the second sentence is actually wrong, by those in a position to actually teach such subjects.

PalermoJohn · 11 months

In Germany we only use the non-Oxford way. While being taught English in school Oxford is what we learned, thinking it was the only way (YMMW).
I just recently found out that in English both ways are acceptable.

CarpeColei · 11 months

That is true if you're speaking American English. The British English language hardly uses the serial comma.

[deleted] · 11 months

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford Comma? I've seen those English dramas too.

Cromar · 11 months

The company I do freelance writing for (Demand, ugh) bans the comma. It does result in confusing sentences.

It also bans punctuation outside quotations and parentheses in all cases. For example, if I write this sentence

Enter the command "Open".

I am forced to put that period inside the quotes and potentially confuse some poor reader who doesn't understand why entering "Open." gives them an error.

The way I understand it, the accepted American setup is to put the punctuation inside the quotations or parentheses only if those marks contain a sentence or phrase. If a single command or idea is being quoted, you are supposed to keep the punctuation outside to avoid confusing. In Britain, I understand that you keep the quotation outside at all times. Do I have any of that right?

Roflkopt3r · 11 months

English Grammar is strange.

-a German.

dave203 · 11 months

It takes a very specific (and fairly rare) set of circumstances for the Oxford comma to be necessary, and there are just as many cases in which using it actually causes confusion. In England we're taught that the general rule of punctuation is to use it sparingly, so the Oxford comma should not be used as standard. A simple list such as, 'I bought bread, milk and eggs' definitely does not require one.

TerrySouthernLives · 11 months

Wow, this is genius. GREAT STUFF!

laiika · 11 months

Who gives a fuck about an oxford comma? Your president does, Vampire Weekend.

mikbe · 11 months

First, world, and problems.

Grammar_Ally · 11 months

Looks; like a job, for Grammar_Ally!

Angstweevil · 11 months

There is obviously a difference here between UK and U.S punctuation. The standard rule with British English is "never place a comma before the word 'and'".

So British english, if you wanted denote that JFK and Stalin were strippers, I would use:

We invited the strippers: JFK and Stalin

TheDroopy · 11 months

I thought the Oxford comma was used rarely and often considered unnecessary. I would write it the second way.

tksauce · 11 months

It's also important to make your punctuation big enough to read easily: http://img828.imageshack.us/i/imageyjx.jpg/

funny

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