Is it just me or is the Oxford comma making a comeback? (Not the song by Vampire Weekend; I’m talking about the real Oxford comma.)
In recent years, I have seen it appear more regularly in text. I don’t love it – especially when it is used incorrectly. I sadly spend many hours removing these little critters from author drafts.
In Australia, we tend to use the Oxford comma sparingly.
In America, it is used all the time. That’s why I think it has snuck back into Aussie text of late – because AI has been largely drawing from American source content.
What is an Oxford comma?
In its simplest form, a comma separates clauses, phrases and words.
An Oxford comma (or ‘serial comma’), according to the Australian Style Manual, serves to:
- separate the final item from a list of items if ‘the last item combines 2 words or phrases with the word ‘and’’
- prevent ambiguity, especially in complex sentences (for instance, where you have a defining phrase that’s only relevant to the last item).
Here are some examples of correct usage:
The policy applies to contractors, consultants, and health and safety officers.
[It is used here to clarify that the last item relates to health and safety officers.]We discussed timelines, budgets, and risk and mitigation strategies.
[It is used here to keep risk and mitigation strategies as one.]The committee includes representatives from finance, marketing, and research and development.
[You get the idea.]The report examined production of apples, oranges, and juice for export.
[Only the juice is for export, not the apples and oranges.]
Don’t over-punctuate
Lots of text now includes the Oxford comma where it’s simply not required. In fact, the Australian Style Manual clearly asks us all to ‘restrict the use of the Oxford comma’ – AMEN to that!
It’s a bit like how we used to add a double space after a full stop. It’s definitely not required or expected anymore – and will be removed by your editor. Oxford commas are the same. They serve no purpose when listing items like this:
The workshop covered grammar, editing, style and tone.
[No need for the Oxford comma.]Bread, milk, eggs and cheese.
[NOT bread, milk, eggs, and cheese.]I took wine, cake and flowers to her house.
[No Oxford comma.]Water, air and minerals are part of the earth’s abundant resources.
[NOT water, air, and minerals are part of the earth’s abundant resources.]
It’s obvious enough with the ‘and’ doing the work – no need to add a comma too.
Why should you care?
Ultimately, you don’t need to care! An editor can look for these fellas on your behalf. But if you do care, even a smidge, please avoid adding commas for the sake of it. In most cases, you can cut back on them.
Writing content that is readable, accessible and understandable is about using plain language: shorter sentences, good overall structure, familiar words and minimal punctuation.
