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 |  return to list of language debates  Links in this essay will take you to information about the usage experts and their work. Numbers in parentheses are page references. To read about this topic in A Pocket Style Manual, see section 17c. |
| Commas with items in a series  Usage varies on the matter of the
“serial comma,” the comma between the last two items in
a series. Newspapers routinely omit it, and book editors
just as routinely put it in. Does this mean that the
comma is merely a matter of taste? Usage experts don’t
think so.
Yes, newspapers ask journalists to omit
the comma to save space—or even ink—and journalists wisely comply.
Even so, most experts agree that the
practice itself may not be so wise, because
omitting the comma can result in ambiguity or
misreading. Wilson Follett gives an example of ambiguity:In the following year he will specialize in gynecology, immunology, orthopedics or diseases of the bone. How many items are in the series—three or four? We
can’t be sure. In fact, the writer meant to list four
items, says Follett, and the comma would have made this
clear (399). Three Presidential “imperatives” for the year were defense reorganization, extension of reciprocal trade and foreign aid. Follett explains the
problem and its solution: “You first read reciprocal
trade and foreign aid as co-ordinate objects
governed by extension of, and you are still
waiting for the third member with voice suspended. A
comma after trade would identify the third member
for what it is” (400). |
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