Letter of Recommendation: The Oxford Comma

“In class today, you’ll meet Mr. Evans’ kids, Mr. Scott and Mr. Vann.” Maybe reading that sentence was easy for you, and you quickly recognized that it was a list of three people. Or, you might have had to go back and read it twice to make sure that Mr. Evans isn’t the father of two other faculty members. 

The reason for the confusion is the missing Oxford comma, or the comma placed before the final conjunction in a list of three or more items. I’ve been taught to write lists using the Oxford Comma since 3rd or 4th grade. Imagine my surprise when I learned at a journalism program this summer that in Associated Press (AP) style, which newspapers use, you generally omit the Oxford comma.

The AP stylebook says that the Oxford comma actually can be used when necessary to provide more clarity. However, in my experience, it always adds clarity. I would rather include the comma and deal with a choppy sentence than misinterpret something. 

Granted, I am a rather over-enthusiastic comma user. But ask Andy Spear, any of my sane peers from the journalism program, or even the writers of Chicago Style guidelines, and they’ll agree that the Oxford comma is necessary. 

The Oxford comma’s merit can even be assigned monetary value: $5 million dollars. This is the amount that delivery drivers for Oakhurst Dairy won when they successfully sued their employer for denying them overtime pay. The deciding factor to the case was a missing comma in Maine state law.

A section in the law lists activities not subject to overtime pay. It reads: “The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable foods.” The drivers said that they distribute the food, but do not pack it. If there had been a comma, distribution would be covered in the list and the drivers would not receive overtime pay. Since there was not a comma, distribution didn’t seem like a separate category from packing, and the drivers won their case. Thus, removing he Oxford comma for a bit of concision just isn’t worth it.

Also, the original reason for omitting the Oxford comma is no longer relevant. The main motive was to conserve space in a newspaper, which is no longer a concern with the way we now print. With the rise of digital articles, space matters even less. So, if the Oxford comma adds clarity to your sentences, why not include it?