The Oxford Comma Debate

[onlyaworkingtitle]

We're English majors. We have opinions on the Oxford Comma.
What those opinions are... Well, that depends on the Armadillo.
Discuss.

PS: I made it a poll! Niftiness.

[Dodger Thirteen]

I think it's entirely unnecessary and exists only to make my life more difficult.

[onlyaworkingtitle]

Gasp! Something else we disagree on!
I think that it clarifies lists, particularly more complex ones in which each item could be blurred with the next if not for that little curve of ink.

[Marina]

I like the Oxford comma, but there are times when I don't use it. I think it depends on the sentence structure or what I'm trying to say.

[tastyink]

I mentioned this in the "I'm a bad English major because..." thread, I love commas! So the Oxford comma is essential. Always.

[embonpoint]

I love it, for two reasons:
1. I love all commas.
2. I live in Oxford and love it/everything to do with it. GO OXFORD.

I also just find it strange to miss out. I feel like every other item in the list has a comma, so the last one should, too. Although, I was never taught to use it, so I'm not sure where it's come from.

[Silva]

I am a comma freak, so I love it.

I have to force myself to not write 38-word sentences with thirty commas. They look fine when I read them, then I re-read them or show them to someone else and the response is: "...What the hell is this doing here?!"

(P.S. Apparently 38 words isn't all that bad compared to Meyer. According to Reasoning with Vampires, there was a sentence with 50+ words once.)

[onlyaworkingtitle]

Sentences are not minivans!

[Silva]

Hey, I said I tried to not do that, not that I always did it.

[cmthecla]

I like using them, but the one thing that bothers me about it is that the rules change depending on the medium. In journalism (which follows AP style), you never use Oxford commas, but you do use them when writing in MLA. In a perfect world, there would be no rules about when to use that comma (so that I could use it all them time regardless of what I'm writing).

[Epif]

Serial commas make lists easier to read. I mean, inflections change while reading a list, and then inflections return afterwards; without a serial comma there, the list appears to be... not a list... And then I have to re-read said list and waste time.

[leonwingstein]

An Oxford comma should ALWAYS be used, not matter what. It really bothers me when people do not use it.

[Gina]

I use the Oxford comma no matter what. It really annoys me when people don't use them, especially when they leave out the Oxford comma but feel the need to add an extra comma where it's not needed. For example, a tweet from my friend- "I went to Sonic for the first time today. What, a good day." ERG.

[Wayfinder]

I don't get mad when other people don't use the Oxford Comma, but I hate it if I don't use it. However, I appreciate text more if it is there.

[callmeishmael]

When I found out that Oxford commas were optional, I couldn't believe it.
They go there always. No matter what anyone else says.