In Defense of the Serial Comma

Often when I am doing copyediting work, I encounter use of the serial comma, or non-use of it, as the case may be. You may know this punctuation mark as the Oxford Comma, as its use has been heralded by Oxford University for many decades. It may also be referred to as the Harvard Comma, which nomenclature I must admit to preferring as it reminds me of my alma mater, Harvard, and I relish the reminiscences it brings to mind.

Nick Morrison photo (Unsplash)

Whatever name we give it, the serial comma is useful in making the meaning of a sentence crystal clear. (I’m using this term to avoid having to choose between these esteemed institutions of higher learning, Oxford and Harvard, a task that I feel unqualified to undertake.)  For example, in the following sentence, I have written it first without the serial comma, and then with the serial comma. (This is a common example used by serial comma enthusiasts, yet I cannot keep myself from using it here.)

1.       1. Highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.

2.       2. Highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod, and a dildo collector.

In the first sentence, we are affronted with the idea that Nelson Mandela was an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector, as well. How disrespectful! I am appalled that I could even write such drivel. Without the last comma, the serial comma, ‘Nelson Mandela’ is modified by an appositive, ‘an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector’. What nonsense! In the second sentence, we can readily see that our global traveler met three people, Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod, and a dildo collector.

Of course, even though using a serial comma in this sentence makes it much more apparent what the author is trying to convey, sometimes, as Benjamin Dreyer, the noted Random House editor, asserts, it may be a good idea to rework sentences for even more clarity (Dreyer 2019). For example:

3.       Highlights of his global tour include encounters with an 800-year-old demigod, a dildo collector, and Nelson Mandela.

 I much prefer the third example with the rearranging of items in this series so to lessen the association of South Africa’s heroic champion against apartheid, Nelson Mandela, with demigods and dildos, an unlikely and disparate group of individuals, to be sure. I wonder what editor we can thank for this example of the serial comma, or Harvard comma, as I like to call it. Call it what you like; just use it if you value clarity of expression. Am I clear?

Dreyer, Benjamin. Dreyer’s English. New York: Random House, 2019.