Grammar Geeks Come Hither - Which Punctuation Style is Correct?

College Confidential Community
1

<p>Okay, this is going to come off as a really weird question, but it has been bothering me for a while now.</p>

<p>When I was young, I was taught that you should use a comma before "and" if you are listing three or more things. For example:</p>

<p>I really like chicken, turkey, and steak.</p>

<p>However, I have recently begun to notice that people often leave out the comma before and, like this:</p>

<p>I really like chicken, turkey and steak.</p>

<p>It's been really bothering me. Have I been doing it wrong for all these years, is the second way incorrect, or are both ways correct?</p>

2

<p>Either is correct, actually. I personally prefer the first way, but it doesn't matter.</p>

3

<p>Either way is correct. I like the first more because if you don't put a comma before the 'and,' it looks like 'turkey and stake' are one thing, if that makes any sense at all.</p>

4

<p>i learned that the first way is correct. </p>

<p>ex.</p>

<p>i went to the store and got milk, macaroni, and cheese. (meaning three items)
i went to the store and got milk, macaroni and cheese. (now how many things is it? 2? 3?)</p>

5

<p>^ Yeah, that's what I was trying to say before.</p>

6

<p>First way is how I learned.</p>

7

<p>SEE!!! First way is the way that it is taught in elementary school. But I've seen it done the second way so many times in The Washington Post and New York Times, that I was beginning to think it was incorrect.</p>

<p>I think they should make the first way the only way to do it, it would eliminate confusion. (Not really, the second way just annoys me.)</p>

8

<p>I agree. English grammar rules should be concrete without all those irregulars. (that's what made me hate Spanish so much)</p>

9

<p>I learned the first way, but I suppose both are accepted. Some authors have peculiar ways of writing.</p>

10

<p>You think Spanish has lots of irregulars? Try French.</p>

11

<p>I learned that the first way was correct. I'm not sure what other sources say, but my English teachers have always said to do this:

[quote]
I really like chicken, turkey, and steak.

[/quote]
</p>

12

<p>I know French has more. When I got to college, I want to learn either Cantonese, Mandarin, or Japanese.</p>

<p>haha I just followed the first way</p>

<p>lol</p>

13

<p>the second isn't acceptable if there is confusion as to whether the two final objects are actually one object or two. (i.e. macaroni, and cheese is different than macaroni and cheese)</p>

<p>the second way has made itself more prevalent as the years have gone by, but it is up to the author's discretion to choose when it will confuse the meaning of the sentence.</p>

14

<p>the first way is for more than 2 objects</p>

15

<p>I learned the first way in class, however my newspaper editor mother says it should be the second.
so you should be fine either way.</p>

16

<p>either is correct and i believe the extra comma in the first way is called an oxford comma, if oxford people do it it's good enough for me ;)</p>

17

<p>I, Think, There, are, just, some, people, who, misuse, the, function, of, a, comma, <<<LOL</p>

18

<p>Most people learned it to be the first way, as did I. English is a ghastly language though, especially concerning grammar, as rules are constantly being tampered with. Enjoy!</p>

19

<p>I heard English is the hardest language...I was like what the F***?...Harder than japenese && Chinese?</p>

20

<p>The extra comma as in the first way is known as an Oxford comma because it's the house style of the Oxford University Press. I believe that it's sometimes called a Harvard comma in the States for a similar reason. Other publishers may follow the alternative, as seems to be the case with the New York Times.</p>

<p>We are generally taught the second way at schools in the UK. For myself, I will generally follow the second style unless I feel that adding the extra comma improves comprehension. So I would write: "I went to the shop and bought milk, cheese, fish and cabbage", as "fish and cabbage" can't be mistaken for one item as there's no earlier "and". But I would write: "The options in the canteen were fish and chips, macaroni cheese, liver and bacon, and tomato omelette", to make it clear which option contained the bacon.</p>