The Oxford Comma (A Hill I Will Die On)

By Kirsten Laaspere on  2020-10-14

First, let me be clear. I am a huge nerd when it comes to rhetoric, grammar, and punctuation; I am a word nerd and I am proud of it. I once received a book about the history of fonts (Just my Type by Simon Garfield) as a feel better gift while I was sick… and it worked; I did feel better. 

Second, the punctuation hill I will die on is in defense of the oxford comma. I will never be ok with not using it. I will leave it out if the brand guide within which I am working demands it (because consistency across communications is essential to clarity), but I will do it begrudgingly. I am not even going to write a whole diatribe on why the oxford comma is necessary. I will simply state that there are two types of people: those who support the oxford comma, simpletons and fools.