Oxford Comma Quotes

There are people who embrace the Oxford comma and those who don't, and I'll just say this: never get between these people when drink has been taken.

who gives a fuck about an oxford comma?

This man was made with tweed and argyle, and sewn together with an Oxford comma.

There's nothing sexier than imaging myself as an Oxford comma getting unambiguously banged. Throw in a semicolon in between two closely related independent clauses, and a volcanic love of punctuation eruption is guaranteed.

Writing is new, relatively speaking. Story telling is ancient. Tell your story first putting aside all other worries. Leave fretting over homonyms, semicolons, and Oxford commas to editors and friends you can be bribe with baking.

Chances are that if you use the Oxford comma you brush the crumbs off your shirtfront before going out.

They knew two languages and there I was thinking I was hot shit because I knew what an Oxford comma was. Hey, internalized racism. How you doing?

Without the Oxford comma, you can give people the wrong idea. Famously, the London Times newspaper once ran a brief description of a television documentary featuring Peter Ustinov, promising: Highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector.

Hands in the air, and don’t move.’ ‘Which is it?’ asked the man. ‘What?’ barked Banecroft. ‘I have to move to put my hands in the air.’ ‘Obviously, put your hands in the air, and then, don’t move. There was an Oxford comma between the two actions, implying a list of events happening in sequence.’ He glanced across at Stella, who was standing on the other side of Hannah. ‘See? I told you it was important.

I feel my hackles rise, however, when I hear people refer to the serial comma as the Oxford comma. Why does Oxford get all the credit? Why does the stricter, more conservative choice belong to the university that gave us the eponymous shirt with the button-down collar and the androgynous lace-up shoe? Why not the Harvard comma, or the Rutgers comma, or the Cornhusker comma?

The Oxford comma refers to the Oxford University Press, whose house style is to use the serial comma. (The public-relations department at Oxford doesn’t use it, however. Presumably PR people see it as a waste of time and space. The business end of these operations is always in a hurry and does not approve of clutter. The serial comma is a pawn in the war between town and gown.) To call it the Oxford comma gives it a bit of class, a little snob appeal.

I played pinochle with my grandmothers. I thought I was the only person under the age of sixty who knew how to play. He also used the Oxford comma. That has to mean something, doesn't it?

Truth be told, I sometimes even felt like I was better than them—getting a better education in my white-ass town, speaking perfect English. How messed up is that? They knew two languages and there I was thinking I was hot shit because I knew what an Oxford comma was. Hey, internalized racism. How you doing?

I give him what Mama would have called the hairy eyeball. “English lit major. I may speak Southern, but I do like my grammar and correct word choice.” And if it matters, I’m Team Oxford comma all the way.

Oxford comma or Harvard comma? Why not just call it a highly educated comma and leave it at that?