<p>Which is correct, 1 or 2. Say number and reason. </p>
<li><p>spoons, knives, and forks.</p></li>
<li><p>spoons, knives and forks.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Okay, my personal opinion, 2 bugs me so much. But everyone’s different, so pick one!</p>
<p>1, but I am a gratuitous comma user, so... no fancy schmancy grammatical reasoning there.</p>
<p>1, because it's correct. </p>
<p>2 get's tricky when the last two things are something that could be taken as a singular object.
ex. For supper, we had; tomato sauce, macaroni and cheese.
one reading it could take that two different ways</p>
<p>^Wouldn't it be "tomato sauce, and macaroni and cheese" though?</p>
<p>1</p>
<p>I, like you, am bothered by #2.</p>
<p>we're taught that either is technically correct, but i absolutely prefer 1.</p>
<p>now, if it was FORKS and KNIVES..:)</p>
<p>I learned that #1 is correct, but my editor mother says #2.</p>
<p>o_o oh bloody hell. I've been using #2 all my life.</p>
<h1>2 is correct.</h1>
<p>While #2 is most commonly used, I think that #1 is the correct usage. In any case, I always use #1. It looks better on the page.</p>
<p>The comma before the word "and" in the first example is what's known as the serial comma, the oxford comma, or the harvard comma. Both sentences are technically correct, but there is no general consensus regarding this issue. It is very common to use the serial comma in American English (although it is by no means standard) but in British English it is used much more rarely.</p>
<p>However, either way is grammatically correct.</p>
<p>Now would you trust a Mickey Mouse guy who doesn't capitalize two of the World's finest institutions? ;)</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma</a></p>
<p>I love the discussion on ambiguity in the wiki....</p>
<p>(Personally, I think it should read "knives, forks, and spoons" in that order!)</p>
<p>(To be inserted as necessary: ....,,,,!!!!"""" '''' ???? ;;;; ::::))</p>
<p>Neither. I agree with Dad'o'2; it should be "knives, forks, and spoons". :D</p>
<p>Everybody keeps talking about which one they ALWAYS use...</p>
<p>I'm a bit frightened if you say or write "knives, forks, and spoons" all the time. :)</p>
<p>I vote for one. Which I COMMONLY use. :o</p>
<p>The first one, because that's how I was taught, but really, either is correct.</p>
<p>The first one. I've even been taught that the second example is INcorrect.</p>
<p>"tomato sauce, and macaroni and cheese"</p>
<p>Wouldn't it be "tomato sauce and macaroni and cheese?"
As in, I ate tomato sauce and macaroni and cheese for dinner (ew).</p>
<p>Macaroni and cheese is just one object... so it would be the same as saying:
I ate a banana and a sandwich for dinner.</p>
<p>^Yup. You're right.</p>
<p>Definitely the first one, in American use. In British English it's less common (they don't use commas as much as we do in general). But they're wrong :)</p>
<p>(There's a name for it, by the way - it's called a serial comma. )</p>
<h1>1 is correct. I argued with and defeated my English teacher in the game of commas. Trust me. :)</h1>