Sara’s slightly under the weather and pining for back when she was young, invincible, and had more energy than ten city-sized nuclear reactors.
Oxford Comma or no? Discuss.
[aka open thread, but NO, KEIN, NEIN, NYET politics. Unless you are bashing the consolidation of the major publishers, or Thor Power Tools, then bash away.]
Image credit: Author Photo of Cat Cafe in Vilnius, July 2024.
Mad Genius Club 
13 responses to “Mid-Week Filler”
Oxford comma means they’re never confused. Confused readers have their suspension of disbelief broken. That makes them unhappy.
Make readers happy! Use the Oxford comma!
At least you are forcing them to use mental energies that could be concentrated on the wonders and marvels of your story.
Oxford Comma. My devotion to it is eternal and undying.
I was the junior partner to the woman who established the Teeny Publishing Bidness (which I now own, since she basically left it to me) and we used to jest that she had been married three times; twice to mortal men, and once to The Chicago Manual of Style.
After watching the election last night, I decided to watch what looked from the thumbnail like a silly little video and proceeded to lose several hours
very tongue-in-cheek space-opera type where humans confuse/overwhelm/intimidate aliens. look for the youtube channel sci fi universe if the links below don’t work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7Yj-RLjg-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAq-QVPu9Ps&t=11s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OsZ7wuId0I
It looks like there may be several channels using similar/same stories with different image sets
David Lang
Oxford comma, of course! I will wear its ribbon on my sleeve, write ballads to its beauty, and champion its cause until I am in my grave!
Oxford comma. Clarity uber alles. (True to my nerd nature.)
yes
I’m an “Is it needed?” person on the Oxford Comma. If its inclusion makes matters clearer then it should always be included. Otherwise, I don’t mind either way.
I write a lot of books for Osprey. They are headquartered in Oxford, England. They don’t use the Oxford Comma. Go figure.
(Well, actually, they take it out if my book is contracted in UK English, but let me leave it in for books contracted in US English.)
Yes, it’s a notorious US/UK difference.
This may be an odd question coming from someone who has three books published and one in the oven, but what the (bleep) is an Oxford comma? I don’t know if I’ve been using it or not.
The Oxford comma is the comma at the end of a list of things. “Bob, Mary, James, and Shelly went to the dance” has an Oxford comma between “James” and “and.” British English doesn’t use it. “Bob, Mary, James and Shelly went to the dance.” In some cases, the lack of a final separating comma can lead to confusion. https://www.scribbr.com/commas/oxford-comma/
Thank you very much, ma’am. Apparently I have been using it