";s:4:"text";s:4748:" Problem solved! The dog is on the left. The pros and cons are widely, frequently, and hotly debated.My choice is to travel the path of otiosity for the sake of uniformity.In a sentence such as “I bought one apple, two bananas and three oranges,” no ambiguity exists. You’re never wrong to use it, and meaning is never unclear or misleading; but not using it can make meaning unclear or misleading just often enough, even if infrequently, to use it.”clears up the question of whether the writer’s parents are Ayn Rand and God, the Oxford comma in adds ambiguity to the matter of whether the writer’s mother is Ayn Rand. Posted on March 27, 2017 March 27, 2017 by Vu [Image description: A picture with the profiles of a dog and a cat, staring at each other.
A lot of times, if you have a compound sentence joined by “and,” then you don't really have a detectible pause.
We have enough flipflop rules- with-exceptions in English, so if we can find a rule that is really a RULE, NO EXCEPTIONS, let’s do it. After having read this post, however, it seems to me that it’s not the best idea to leave it up to each person to decide for her/himself what might cause ambiguity for someone else. I think it is very necessary and proper. Using it can make your meaning clearer. The serial comma. It then becomes like a Rorschach picture and each person only sees what s/he sees.
I give in. If not, then I leave it out. The top of its head is black, the band around its eyes is brown, and the band around its nose is white. For example, “a banana, an orange, a pearandagrapefruit.” Whereas, if a comma is inserted after “pear,” it just sounds better to my internal ear. Bir, C., Croney, C. C., & Olynk Widmar, N. J. The serial comma (also known as the Oxford or Harvard comma) is the comma placed before a coordinating conjunction (usually and and or, sometimes nor) that precedes the final item in a list of three or more items: “I visited Norway, France, and Germany.” The Chicago Manual of Style says to always use it. (Wikipedia has a list of arguments Making things worse, this punctuation device can sometimes have serious business implications. Can you believe that he called a serial comma fancy? If there are three people involved -- that is, if Andy and your brother are separate people -- you can write "Andy, Dave, and my brother."
If someone can get away with eliminating even a chore as small as including a serial comma, they often do. Why not? When I read a sentence that skips its usage, I feel like the writer just didn't care to take the time to put the comma in the sentence. There is always strong opinion. You’re never wrong to use it, and meaning is never unclear or misleading; but not using it can make meaning unclear or misleading just often enough, even if infrequently, to use it.