Serial Commas: How do you stand?

[Jennie Ann]

I know this topic may be better situated in the Marla's punctuation subforum, but I thought a discussion of it might be something that could be useful in the main forum. Plus, I would like to learn the opinions of others: seasoned pros, students (what they're teaching you in school about this topic, if anything), proofreaders, scopists, transcriptionists, and veterans in the indusry.

I have strong feelings about commas. In recent times, I have expanded my network of folks that I work with, and it seems that there's a school of thought that swings both ways on the serial comma.

Example A. I bought apples, peaches, and pears.
Example B. I bought apples, peaches and pears.

Please follow up on this thread with your preference of the serial comma, as it will help me provide a follow-up to my work associates.

TIA to any and all responders! :-)

[Mary Jo Cochran]

I have always been called The Queen of English (more of an insult than a compliment). I also have teacher certification in English 6-12 in Florida.

Since you have AND, you don't need the comma.
You can use substitution: I bought peaches and pears.

You really would not say: I bought peaches, pears (here the word and is substituted for the comma). And you cannot say: I bought apples and peaches and pears.

[Judy]

I do Example A.

[Jennie Ann]

Thanks, Mary Jo and Judy, for the replies! :-)

I do Example A too.

This is what Grammar Girl says about the serial comma: Serial Comma by Grammar Girl

Wikipedia provides NUMEROUS reference sources about the serial comma: Serial Comma References on Wikipedia

There is one school of thought that the serial comma usage in Example A is the American way and that the omission of the serial comma in Example B is the British way.

I am very interested to know what students are taught today in court reporting school. When I went to court reporting school, we were instructed to use the serial comma in legal proceedings. Without the serial comma, the meaning can be interpreted differently.

Example A. John's will was divided between Mary, John, and Susan.
Example B. John's will was divided between Mary, John and Susan.

A lawyer could argue in Example B that Mary gets 50 percent and John and Susan get 50 percent.

The use of the serial comma in Example A would indicate that Mary, John, and Susan get a third each.

Grammar Girl's explanation really hits the nail on the head for me, but I'm still interested in hearing from others on this forum. A court reporting company owner told me last week that he has noticed that some folks are not using commas with prepositional phrases anymore.

It could be that the comma usage is a style preference, but I like the serial comma in my transcripts.

[Judy]

You're not pounding away today, are you?

[Jennie Ann]

I sure am, Judy. I have about 300-plus pages due Monday. LOL

[Judy]

I think you are the hardest working person I know!

[Jennie Ann]

November 2008, I was dead in the water, watching the economy tank. I lost a third or more in my retirement savings, and my medical insurance was increased $125 per month. My phone did not ring.

After that November, I think I have a new outlook on working hard. I will never complain about having too much on my platter again -- well, maybe I should never say "never." ;-)

[Kathy]

Finally someone who correctly puts the period INSIDE the final quotation mark!!! Is it just me, or do you rarely see this done correctly?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[Jennie Ann]

Oh, Kathy, I always put the period inside the quote, but you bring up a good point. The variety of styles in punctuation makes it difficult sometimes, especially when working with new entities.

I was told -- and I may be wrong -- that when folks put the quote inside the period that this is a British style. I have worked with Canadian, Australian, British, and Japanese transcriptionists, and they do it the British style, for lack of a better description.

Because there sometimes is no "right" and no "wrong" way when it comes to style preferences, I developed a Style Sheet for those sharing a job with me. I tailor it to each job. Not all of my jobs are verbatim, and I do clean it up sometimes, especially for conferences.

My style may not be somebody else's cup of tea, but at least if I'm sharing a job with others, we can all be singing from the same song sheet.

The bottom line is that I want the transcripts to be consistent on each job.

[Kathy]

Jennie,

I agree with the things you've said in this post and like your way of thinking and love your use of metaphors!! This is a really great post.

I'd very much like to hear your thoughts on the use of commas after the word "so" if/when you're feeling chatty and find yourself home alone. ;0)

BTW, I forgot to address the original post, but I use Example A w/ serial commas. I also put two spaces after ending punctuation.

Thank you all for sharing so much great information.

Kathy

[Marge Teilhaber (TILE hobber)]

I believe less is more. Nevertheless, in the case of a serial comma I go with what I consider the only proper choice, A:

Example A. I bought apples, peaches, and pears. (clear and correct)
Example B. I bought apples, peaches and pears. (slightly unclear and incorrect)

I also use two spaces after end-of-sentence punctuation and consider one space incorrect! (I know I know; don't care what pundits say. It makes a nicer looking page to read with those 2 spaces. Don't care that it's now considered "old-fashioned"!)

I also use a comma before the conjunction if the conjunction separates two complete sentences. The problem with many people is that they don't know what the hell a complete sentence is. Makes me cringe!! BTW, the first sentence in the last paragraph beginning with "I also" has only one complete sentence.

[Keith Rowan II]

I recently finished my advanced English class in school, and we learned why the serial comma is the new rule when it was not before. If you leave out the comma, there is ambiguity because then those words could do together.

Like:

I like jazz, funk, rock and roll. (if rock and roll were separate things, you would need the comma)

I like hot dogs, hamburgers, pork and beans. (here it's pork and beans -- they're not separate)

So you need to leave out the comma when the two things go together to show that and put it in when the two things are separate.