The, Oxford, comma. What, do, we, think?
The Oxford comma is the most divisive tiny bit of print I’ve ever come across. Even semi-colons don’t hold a candle to it when it comes to your nearest and dearest roaring at each other across the dinner table. You know things are dire when someone like Thérèse Coffey, of all people, has an opinion and the entire English-writing world is suddenly at each other’s throats. So what’s the story? Is the Oxford comma de rigeur? Or is it a pompous popinjay?
Well, dear writers, the answer is not a simple one. I’d love to be able to tell you, ‘YES! Use the Oxford comma in all circumstances and never deviate from this rule!’ Or, ‘Never, ever, ever even touch it.’ Wouldn’t it be simpler if language were like that?
Simpler, yes. But it’s not, and we’re all grateful. Because the beauty of language lies in the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘but then there’s this’ shadows between the words we write. Commas are anarchic things under any circumstances, they defy easy inflexibility. The Oxford comma likes to think it can be inflexible because it has had a top-notch education at one of the UK’s oldest universities. But the power of language is greater than the power of prestige.
The rule about Oxford commas is this: it depends. (As writers, we’re used to this.) Is it necessary for clarity? Go ahead and bung it in. Does it sound right in your inner ear? By all means use it. But so often, if it’s a dialogue situation, or if your narrative is told in first or close third person, it just sounds stilted. Worse, it can feel pretentious. People don’t talk that way, not often anyway. So then, no matter what rule you’ve been brought up on, it has to go.
Oxford commas, oddly, are much more popular in the USA than in the UK. Maybe the US holds the OUP in more veneration than the British do. Is that possible? All I know is, an editor friend in Michigan drummed it into me that Oxford commas must ALWAYS be used, and when I came back to England it was like stepping into the open air. I was able to breathe again. Because, as I said, it depends. And if we can’t listen to the rhythm of our own prose and decide in each circumstance what punctuation works and what doesn’t, well, is life even worth living?
We all know the ‘eats shoots and leaves’/ ‘eats, shoots, and leaves’ example. We all know that saying, ‘I fed my guests, the cats and the hamster’ can lead to terrible confusion. We know we can slip a comma in to clarify, and that the spires of Oxford will gleam brighter when we do. But there are many, many times, particularly when a tone of voice matters, that we’ll just choose to pass. And that’s absolutely fine.
I love punctuation, commas and apostrophes. I love punctuation, commas, and apostrophes. I, love, punctuation, commas, and, apostrophes. All in their right place, at their right time, which can vary wildly. But language isn’t inflexible, it’s there to be used. It’s up to us to decide how to use it best, under different circumstances. It just depends.
Joanna x
