When the editor is commatose

[Derleth]

Or, “The Haggards have Two Teddies?”

As noticed on Pharyngula, your source for creedless cephalopods:

Merle Haggard The documentary was filmed over three years. Among those interviewed were his two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall.

With exes like those, no wonder he’s Haggard.

OK, I should be fair: Maybe the comma is there, but the scan is so low-resolution it blends into the dark newsprint background. That would make all my jokes about another Haggard being gay quite uncalled-for. I mean, I’m sure a few straight guys have hung around a comma chameleon.

[thelurkinghorror]

Ah. The Oxford comma. There are decent arguments for and against, but I find that 95% of the time, its presence is preferred.

Wikipedia has the sentence: “To my parents, Ayn Rand and God,” along with your example. Of course to some, I wouldn’t put it past them thinking it’s true.

[Beware_of_Doug]

@thelurkinghorror

Ah. The Oxford comma.

So called because it buttons down that last item in the list.
Oxford…button-down…I’m sorry, were the clothing buyers supposed to be here this show?

[Thudlow_Boink]

@thelurkinghorror

Ah. The Oxford comma. There are decent arguments for and against

What are the arguments against?

[Sampiro]

Officially, when Kris Kristofferson wrote Me and Bobbie McGee it was supposedly about a woman, but Janis Joplin covered it she “changed” Bobby to a man. Now I’m wondering if Haggard was the inspiration and Kris just wasn’t able to admit it yet so he had a she-singer cover it so he wouldn’t have to betray his husband.

[Derleth]

@Thudlow_Boink

What are the arguments against?

It would break up the special relationships still shared by Haggard and Kristofferson, not to mention Ayn Rand and God.

[thelurkinghorror]

@Thudlow_Boink

What are the arguments against?

From the 'pedia:

Common arguments against consistent use of the serial comma:

1. Use of the comma is inconsistent with conventional practice.[15]
2. The comma may introduce ambiguity (see examples below).
3. It is redundant in a simple list, since the and or the or serves by itself to mark the logical separation between the final two items.[16]

And as an example:

In some circumstances the serial-comma convention can introduce ambiguity. An example would be a list reading:

To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God

The serial comma after Ayn Rand creates ambiguity about the writer’s mother, leaving it unclear whether this is a list of three people – (1) my mother, (2) Ayn Rand, (3) God – or two – (1) my mother, who is Ayn Rand, (2) God. In this case, the writer might be best to reorder the sentence, and avoid the problem entirely.

Without a serial comma this would read:

To my mother, Ayn Rand and God

– which is ambiguous only if the reader is prepared to accept the unlikely interpretation “My mother, who is both Ayn Rand and God”.

Their “creating” section is a third the size of the “resolving” section. I don’t really get it either. Anyone messes with my comma and I will rendition them to Oxford for reeducation.

[Sam_A.Robrin]

I recall proofreading a book where the author had written of someone "behind the tree where she was hiding, watching and waiting. The copy-editor had inserted a comma after watching, which I removed, figuring that she was watching and waiting behind the tree where she was hiding more so than doing all three. Proper consistent use of the serial comma can prevent such ambiguities.

Incidentally, what is the book dedicated “To my parents, Ayn Rand and God”? I’ve heard the example millions of times, but have never tracked it down.

[Mean_Mr.Mustard]

And then there’s my favorite proper apostrophe usage example:
All those old things in my basement are my ex-husband’s.
All those old things in my basement are my ex-husbands.

mmm