Subj : Grammar in the Bar
To   : Alexander Koryagin
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Thu Jun 27 2024 00:06:32


Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AK> The comma before "and" is just an unnecessary thing that
AK> provides anything to make the understanding more clear.

          It's a matter of style, not an absolute requirement, and some people recommend using it only when it's needed to avoid confusion:

            Through the window I saw John, a basketball player and a friend of
            mine.

What is this friend's name, and is he a basketball player?  I have no idea.  I found the example in Wikipedia... I didn't personally invent it.


            I asked for coffee with a breakfast of pancakes, bacon & eggs, hot buttered toast and hash brown potatoes.


At 5WPM I can type an added comma without having to fret about whether someone from ElseWhere will think I buttered the hash browns *after* they were cooked. For me it's easier to use the Oxford comma routinely in such a list than to go into detail about why buttering such things on the plate may not work.

          If Denis asks I'll do the latter, but other folks may not care.  :-Q



          BTW, here's a joke Dallas found shortly before your message arrived:

            I like cooking my family and my pets.
                    -- commas save lives



AK>  With the same success you can put "and" before every
AK>  comma in the list. ;-)

          I suppose you could in many cases.  But as Anton says, in English it is generally considered desirable to avoid unnecessary verbiage.... [chuckle].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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