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What is the 'Oxford comma'? |
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The 'Oxford comma' is an optional
comma before the word 'and' at the end of a list:
We sell books, videos, and magazines.
It is so called because it was traditionally used by printers, readers, and editors
at Oxford University Press. Sometimes it can be necessary for clarity when the
items in the list are not single words:
These items are available in black and white, red and yellow, and
blue and green.
Some people do not realize that the Oxford comma is acceptable, possibly because
they were brought up with the supposed rule (which Fowler would call a 'superstition')
about putting punctuation marks before and.
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