On Monday 09 April 2007 07:13, Peter Reaper wrote: > Larry Gusaas said on 08.04.2007 21:48: > > Peter Reaper wrote: > >> Michael Adams said on 08.04.2007 15:59: > > > > <clip /> > > > >>> The quoted article does not say it is mandatory in any way anywhere. > >> > >> Yes it does. Re-read it. It says: "*Separate* three or more items in a > >> series with a comma." That sounds pretty mandatory to me. > >> > >> http://www.drgrammar.org/faqs/#26 > > > > True, but that does not make the article correct .A was previously > > posted by Adrian Try "It's interesting - I was taught at school not to > > use a comma before the 'and' in a list." I was taught the same. Did you > > look at the article in Wikipedia? > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma > > The issue is not as clearcut as you claim it is. > > > > <clip /> > > > >> Also, I was merely pointing out an error in Adrian's signature (which > >> appears in *every* post of his) in the hope that he would *welcome* > >> the opportunity to correct a highly visible (but minor) error and that > >> he might appreciate the opportunity to learn something about the > >> language he is using. He even *thanked* me for it. > > > > <clip /> > > > > He was very polite. Did you look at the Wikipedia article he cited ? > > The comma was not necessarily an error according to some other opinions. > > Yes, I did read it. Interesting read! It is pretty clear there that in > *American* English, the serial comma is virtually always used (see
Not everyone here is in 'America'. Would that be North or South or United States of? > "Style guides") (AP are traitors ;-) ). I also found the reasons (see > "Ambiguity") *for* its use far more compelling than those *against* its > use. > > Anyhow, it's a minor issue, and I never intended to make it any more > than that. > > I found it interesting that the old empire (UK) Where English originated... > and its (former) > colonies have a different (IMO less ideal) convention/rule for this. In your opinion, which would be an 'American' one. tim -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tim Fairchild Atchafalaya Border Collies. Kuttabul, Queensland, Australia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Email mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage http://www.bcs4me.com Photos http://www.pbase.com/amosf Blog http://bcs4me.com/blog BC Forum http://bcs4me.com/forum Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Bcsr4ever ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
