A serial comma (or Oxford comma) is an optional comma used before the last item in a list. For example, “bread, butter, and tax evasion” uses a serial comma, whereas “bread, butter and tax evasion” does not.
Do you use it? Why or why not?
I always use it. I don’t perceive any less of a pause between the last two items in a list than between any others, so it feels natural to put a comma there as well. Tbh, I’m so used to it that I usually have to do a double-take when it’s not there (since it looks like a grammar error to me at first).
Always use it.
If I’m listing this, that, and the other, the commas are just a horizontal series of bullet points, so there should be a comma for each item in the list.
Nobody would go:
The other
Also a fan of the serial comma, but I don’t think a bulleted list works for your example:
This
• That
• The other
I think the point is more that without the serial comma, the last two items in the list aren’t separated like the others, which (imo) feels like omitting the last bullet point in a list.
EDIT: Fixed a typo.
That helps me understand what the other person was saying in response to my comment now, thanks!
Seeeeee…we all get confused without it!
Why would you not bullet the first word in that bulleted list?