[projectaon] Re: serial comma
- From: "David Davis" <feline1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2008 23:51:53 +0100
I've never much favoured the serial comma myself...
I work as a technical author, in the UK ...... I've often found my american
colleagues are much more used to formal prescriptive rules about grammar and
punctuation in US English, wheras such matters tend to be far more
discretionary amoung native speakers ;0)
----- Original Message -----
From: James Durrant
To: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 11:46 PM
Subject: [projectaon] Re: serial comma
Speaking in plain English (I'd never heard of a serial comma!) I was always
taught that a comma was not needed before "and" for example.
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Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 11:41:39 +1300
From: callmeinstead@xxxxxxxxx
To: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [projectaon] Re: serial comma
Hooligan
It sounds like you are more pent up about my using Wikipedia than what I
said. I cited Wiki out of convenience and because it states a fact that backs
up what I say, i.e. there are potential ambiguities presented by either comma.
I used to work as a publishing editor and believe you me, the vast majority
of publishers don't bother with the serial comma. Every style guide I have
consulted in the past has recommended against it mainly because it's
superfluous in most instances. Besides the convention, this is also why most
publishers avoid it.
Going against the grain will only look awkward to the vast majority.
Consult a large number of publishing editors and I guarantee you almost all
won't use it.
If you still want a reliable source, find one yourself and you'll find what
I say holds true.
Cheers
Lawrence
On 04/04/2008, Hooligans in Kilts <hooligans_in_kilts@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm sorry, I have an issue with people who use Wikipedia. If you are
going to cite a source, how about one that is reliable? Wikipedia is barely
monitored and anyone can go in and make changes to whatever they want to. Use
an edu, gov, or a org site if you are going to use one. com sites are
commercial, and net sites are just domains on a network, which can be linked to
certain organizations or businesses.
Sorry, I am not flaming this person (I hope), I just can't stand it when,
like I said, people use unreliable sources as a good source of information.
----- Original Message ----
From: Lawrence Ritchie <callmeinstead@xxxxxxxxx>
To: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, April 3, 2008 5:08:25 PM
Subject: [projectaon] serial comma
I imagine this was hotly debated to start with, but nonetheless:
I balk when I see your adoption of the serial comma. Talk about
unconventional! (In the British publishing world -- and Lone Wolf is British --
virtually every publisher eschews its use).
It seems your main reason for adopting its use was to avoid ambiguities,
but this is groundless. Whether you use it or not can create ambiguities (see
ref below). It is easier to avoid it unless its use prevents an ambiguity (the
editor's job -- and this is the only way due to the constraints of English
style). I just can't believe you guys decided to add superfluous commas into
the original works!
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma
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