Vampire Weekend.

[Teacher Mark 53]

I likes it.

[pedroh 21]

vampire weekend is cool, I like A-punk from them

[Teacher Mark 53]

vampire weekend is cool, I like A-punk from them

I like that too, but I think this one is a better song. Their sound is pretty original.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Is this just a song or does it have something to do with the University?

[Teacher Mark 53]

I'm glad you asked, because I, for one, give a f$%# about an oxford comma (even though I never use them)!

Serial comma

The serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma or Harvard comma) is the comma used immediately before a grammatical conjunction (nearly always and or or; sometimes nor) that precedes the last item in a list of three or more items. The phrase "Portugal, Spain, and France", for example, is written with the serial comma, while "Portugal, Spain and France", identical in meaning, is written without it.[1][2][3]

There is no consensus among writers or editors on the use of the serial comma. It is closer to being standard use in American English than it is in British English[4] (see extended treatment of this below, including a survey of published recommendations in Usage and subsequent sections). In many languages (e.g. French,[5] Italian,[6] Polish,[7] Spanish[8]) the serial comma is not normally used, although it may be employed in cases where it aids clarity or prosody.

[edit] Arguments for and against

Arguments typically advanced for use of the serial comma by default include:

1. that it better matches the spoken cadence of sentences;[9]

2. that it sometimes reduces ambiguity;[10]

3. that its use matches practice with other means of separating items in a list (example: when semicolons are used to separate items, a semicolon is consistently included before the last item, even when and or or is present);[11]

Arguments typically advanced for avoidance of the serial comma by default include:

1. that it is against conventional practice;[12]

2. that it may introduce ambiguity (see examples below); and

3. that it is redundant, since the and or the or serves by itself to mark the logical separation between the final two items.[13]

Many sources, however, are against both automatic use and automatic avoidance of the serial comma, and make recommendations in a more nuanced way (see Usage and subsequent sections).

[edit] Ambiguity

[edit] Resolving ambiguity

Use of the serial comma can sometimes remove ambiguity. Consider the apocryphal book dedication:

To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

There is ambiguity about the writer's parentage, because Ayn Rand and God can be read as in apposition to my parents, leading the reader to believe that the writer refers to Ayn Rand and God as his or her parents. A comma before and removes the ambiguity:

To my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.

Consider also:

My favourite types of sandwiches are pastrami, ham, cream cheese and peanut butter and jelly.

According to the two most plausible interpretations of this sentence, four kinds of sandwich are listed. But it is uncertain which are the third and fourth kinds. Adding a serial comma removes this ambiguity. With a comma after peanut butter, the kinds of sandwich are these:

1. pastrami

2. ham

3. cream cheese and peanut butter

4. jelly

With a comma after cream cheese, the kinds of sandwich are these:

1. pastrami

2. ham

3. cream cheese

4. peanut butter and jelly

Some writers who normally avoid the serial comma may use one in these circumstances, though sometimes re-ordering the elements of such a list can help as well.

[edit] Creating ambiguity

Use of the serial comma can introduce ambiguity. An example would be a book dedication reading:

To my mother, Ayn Rand and God.

In the context of the no-serial-comma convention this is unambiguously a list of three, but introducing a serial comma creates ambiguity about the writer's mother, because "Ayn Rand" can then be read as in apposition to "my mother" (with the commas fulfilling a parenthetical function):

To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God.

This ambiguity could be resolved by restating the preposition before each list item:

To my mother, to Ayn Rand, and to God.

Consider also:

Betty, a maid and a rabbit.

When the serial comma is not used, this is clearly a list of two people and a rabbit (assuming that the unlikely idea that Betty is both a maid and a rabbit is rejected), whereas

Betty, a maid, and a rabbit

may refer either to one person (Betty, who is a maid) or to two people (Betty and a maid) and a rabbit.

[edit] Unresolved ambiguity

The Times once published this description of a Peter Ustinov documentary: "highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a ####### collector."[14] This is ambiguous as it stands, but even if a serial comma were added Mandela could still be mistaken for a demigod.

Or consider "They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid, and a cook." The presence of the last comma in the list creates the possibility that Betty is a maid, reasonably allowing it to be read either as a list of two people or as a list of three people, context aside. On the other hand, removing the comma leaves the possibility that Betty is both a maid and a cook; so in this case neither the use nor the avoidance of the serial comma resolves the ambiguity.

A writer who intends that Betty, the maid, and the cook be taken as three distinct people may create an ambiguous sentence, regardless of whether the serial comma is adopted. Furthermore, if the reader is unaware of which convention is being used, both versions are always ambiguous.

These forms (among others) would remove the ambiguity:

* They went to Oregon with Betty – a maid and a cook. (One person)

* They went to Oregon with Betty, who is a maid and a cook. (One person)

* They went to Oregon with Betty (a maid) and a cook. (Two people)

* They went to Oregon with Betty – a maid – and a cook. (Two people)

* They went to Oregon with the maid Betty and a cook. (Two people)

* They went to Oregon with Betty and a maid and a cook. (Three people)

* They went to Oregon with Betty, one maid and a cook. (Three people)

* They went to Oregon with a full staff: Betty; a maid; and a cook. (Three people)

* They went to Oregon with a maid, a cook, and Betty. (Three people)

* They went to Oregon with a maid, a cook and Betty. (Three people)

In general:

* The list x, y and z is unambiguous if y and z cannot be read as in apposition to x.

* Equally, x, y, and z is unambiguous if y cannot be read as in apposition to x.

* If neither y nor y[,] and z can be read as in apposition to x, then both forms of the list are unambiguous; but if y or y[,] and z can be read as in apposition to x, then both forms of the list are ambiguous.

* x and y and z is unambiguous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma

Edited July 1, 2008 by WideAwakeInTheUSA

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

woah.

[Teacher Mark 53]

woah.

I know! I never knew the term existed. How in the world did they write that much in Wiki about a comma?

I plan on teaching English in Viet Nam. This will be number 1 on the agenda!

Edited July 1, 2008 by WideAwakeInTheUSA