INWho cares about the Oxford comma?
Historically speaking, volhe replied: they are grammar freaks, Strunk and whiteand those who follow the infamous Chicago vs. AP writing style guide debate.
ANDafter this lawsuit a few years ago – we added dairy driver to the list.
This is because an appellate court ruled in favor of Maine dairy drivers in a labor dispute that hinged on an oft-discussed piece of punctuation.
For anyone who has ever wondered why there is so much fuss over Oxford commas, a district judge’s opinion from 2017 says it all:
“For lack of a comma, we have this case.”
Barron, district judge
Let’s take a look at why the Oxford comma can be so important
What is an Oxford comma or serial comma?
For those who need a grammar refresher, here’s a quick overview.
Sometimes called a serial comma, an Oxford comma is a comma placed between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
For example, in this sentence, an Oxford comma appears after the word “hat”:
“She was wearing a jacket, hat and gloves.”
Although some writing style guides do not use this comma, proponents argue that the potential ambiguity should be avoided. And if there’s one thing writers can agree on, it’s the importance of transparency. In some cases, the extra comma is important.
Does AP style use the Oxford comma?
Short answer: no.
Many writers, including journalists, live by Associated Press Style Manual. AP style does not use Oxford commas.
However, Chicago style requires Oxford commas. This is Chicago style manualwhich is widely used by book publishers, academics and trade publications.
So the decision on whether to use a serial comma depends on the type of writing and which style guide applies to that project.
If you’re writing for a news outlet, you probably want to keep the AP style and omit the extra punctuation. If you’re writing a novel that you plan to submit to publishers, you probably want to maintain the Chicago style, which uses the Oxford comma.
An example to follow
Let’s look at how the Oxford comma works.
Here is an example of a sentence with an Oxford comma:
“I admire my parents, Gandhi and Mother Teresa.”
In this example, it is clear that I admire my parents, as well as Gandhi and Mother Teresa.
But remove that comma and the sentence reads: “I admire my parents, Gandhi and Mother Teresa.”
It could be argued that the sentence written this way suggests that Gandhi and Mother Teresa are my parents. Even though the average person would know this isn’t the case, it shows how easily a missing comma can change the meaning of a sentence.
Dictionary.com offers more funny examples
It is this kind of ambiguity that led to the Maine case with dairy farmers.
The Oxford Comma Debate and the $10 Million Comma
As part of this class action lawsuit, Oakhurst Dairy drivers filed a lawsuit against the company for failing to award them overtime pay.
Under state law, workers in Maine are entitled to 1.5 times their regular wages for hours worked in excess of 40 per week. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Specifically, the law states that companies do not have to pay overtime for the following activities:
Canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, placing on the market, storing, packing for shipment or distribution:
- Agricultural products;
- Meat and fish products; AND
- Perishable food
Notice the end of the opening line, where there is no comma before the “or”.
Oakhurst Dairy argued that its drivers were ineligible for overtime because they were involved in distribution, and the spirit of the law was intended to list “packing for shipment” and “distribution” as two separate exempt activities.
However, drivers argued that the letter of the law did not say anything like that. Without that distinctive Oxford comma, it could be read that the law only excludes packaging – whether it was packaging for shipment or packaging for distribution. In this case, the distribution itself NO To be fired.
Without that comma, as a judge maintainedthe distinction was not clear:
If this exemption marked the last of the activities listed therein with a comma, then the exemption would clearly cover the activity performed by drivers. In such a case, drivers would clearly be exempt and therefore outside the protection of overtime rules. However, it so happens that there is no dot in the list of activities covered by the exemption, which leads to a dispute about whether drivers are exempt from the Overtime Act or not.
Barron, district judge
As a result, the court ruled in favor of the drivers, costing the dairy approx was estimated at $10 million.
Comma rules: comma or no comma?
As a staunch supporter of the Oxford comma, this ruling made me feel better.
Even though many of the sites I write for as a freelance blogger use the AP style, which is a comma without a serial number, I still sneak one in when I feel it’s necessary to avoid confusion. This case confirms this habit as more than just an old-school tic that I have yet to shake.
While the debate about whether Oxford commas are always necessary may still continue, this ruling upholds the practice of using them when necessary to avoid ambiguity.
So who cares about the Oxford comma? According to the courts, the answer is official: anyone interested in transparency.
Take it, AP style!
This is an updated version of a story that was previously published. We update our posts as often as possible to ensure they are useful to our readers.
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