Sounds like a Watercooler channel discussion on the Write the Docs Slack channel ;>)
________________________________ From: Framers <framers-bounces+jeff.coatsworth=jonasclub....@lists.frameusers.com> on behalf of Johan Anglemark <[email protected]> Sent: January 8, 2019 6:57 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Framers] OT: Punctuation question Could we please take the religious discussions elsewhere than this list? -j On 2019-01-08 12:55, Tom Beiswenger wrote: > It's more than "Oxford style." The use of a serial comma is covered in the > Chicago Manual of Style. Per entry 5.50: "In a series consisting of three or > more elements, the elements are separated by commas. When a conjunction joins > the last two elements in a series, a comma is used before the conjunction." > The British "The Economist Style Guide" specifically directs writers to NOT > use a serial comma. > > I have followed the serial comma rule since I went from being a newspaper > journalist to being a technical writer nearly 30 years ago. My personal > opinion is that the serial comma can be optional, but whether it is used or > no used must be consistent throughout any document or book. We have been > using it for more than 30 years. I see no need to change. > > > Tom Beiswenger > Project Manager, Manager IB Technical Documentation > > Emhart Glass Inc. > 74 Kahler Road North • Horseheads NY 14845 • USA > Telephone 1 607 735 2551 • Mobile +1 607 769 4779 > Fax +1 607 735 2601 > [email protected] > www.bucheremhartglass.com<http://www.bucheremhartglass.com> > www.bucherindustries.com<http://www.bucherindustries.com> > Privacy Policy: > www.bucheremhartglass.com/privacy<http://www.bucheremhartglass.com/privacy> > > -----"Framers" > <framers-bounces+tom.beiswenger=emhartglass....@lists.frameusers.com> wrote: > ----- > To: An email list for people using Adobe FrameMaker software. > <[email protected]> > From: Stephen Rickaby > Sent by: "Framers" > Date: 01/08/2019 05:10AM > Subject: Re: [Framers] OT: Punctuation question > > At 09:33 +0000 8/1/19, shuttie27 wrote: > >> Two points:The "Oxford style" is to include the comma, not to omit it. It >> was so named because the Oxford University Press, almost alone among British >> publishers, mandated it in their style guide. Secondly, as for its being >> essential to avoid ambiguity, tell that to all the other British and other >> publishers who don't use it, and generations of British and other writers >> who have never used it. > > You are correct; I miswrote. 'Oxford Guide to Style', R M Ritter (an American > gentleman, by the way), OUP 2002, pp 121-122. This cites many instances where > the serial comma is necessary to avoid ambiguity, but admits that omitting it > is often done in US and UK English, but then goes on to suggest that you > might as well bung it in anyway. > > However, following the publication of this book there was a good deal of > spirited debate on the topic. As far as I remember (and I communicated with > Mr Ritter at the time but have mislaid the emails), the consensus, based on > several existing styles guides, was that 'UK style' was to omit the serial > comma unless by so doing ambiguity was introduced, while US style was always > to include it. > > Here for example is the relevant part of the British Psycholoigcal Society's > style guide: > > [Commas are...] Not required before 'and' in a list of items, unless to avoid > an ambiguity or to clarify where one item ends and another begins > (particularly where the items are lengthy). Examples: > > * ..in the professional work of clinical, forensic and educational > psychologists. > > * The Bishops of Winchester, and Bath and Wells [two bishops, not three] > > Or this from the Thomson Learning style guide: > > * Do not impose serial commas in lists of three or more items except to avoid > ambiguity. > > Or from The Economist style guide: > > * Lists: with lists do not put a comma before 'and' at the end of a sequence > of items unless one of the items includes another 'and'. > > Thus: > > 'The doctor suggested an aspirin, half a grapefruit and a cup of broth. But > he ordered scrambled eggs, whisky and soda, and a selection from the trolley.' > -- Johan Anglemark Tel: 0708-65 10 88 _______________________________________________ This message is from the Framers mailing list Send messages to [email protected] Visit the list's homepage at http://www.frameusers.com Archives located at http://www.mail-archive.com/framers%40lists.frameusers.com/ Subscribe and unsubscribe at http://lists.frameusers.com/listinfo.cgi/framers-frameusers.com Send administrative questions to [email protected] _______________________________________________ This message is from the Framers mailing list Send messages to [email protected] Visit the list's homepage at http://www.frameusers.com Archives located at http://www.mail-archive.com/framers%40lists.frameusers.com/ Subscribe and unsubscribe at http://lists.frameusers.com/listinfo.cgi/framers-frameusers.com Send administrative questions to [email protected]
