

The Oxford Comma and The Internet - bronnie
http://blog.anguscroll.com/oxford-comma

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mwc
"Through the window she saw George, a policeman and several onlookers” clearly
refers to two people and some onlookers."

No, it doesn't. If anything, I think the use of the Oxford comma would make
this more clear (although the most elegant solution is surely just to draft
the sentence in a less ambiguous manner).

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passionfruit
Using an em dash would make the sentence clear.

"Through the window she saw George—a policeman—and several onlookers."

Or one could simply specify who George is by inserting "who is" after George.

"Through the window she saw George, who is a policeman, and several
onlookers."

If using the Oxford comma does not make the sentence clear then the sentence
needs to be rewritten.

~~~
georgefox
I agree completely, but the original sentence used _a policeman_ as a member
of the list, not an appositive. As an ardent lover of the Oxford comma, the
only solution for this sentence is to move some words around.

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DanBC
> The internet is brimming with exceptional writing, and yet, the good content
> makes up a tiny fraction of the whole,

Sturgeon's law - 90% of everything is crap.

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bcoates
The author confuses bikeshedding for the impending end of civility. At length.

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logn
Why do feel like I'm reading an AI generated article? It's a mashup of some
seemingly random paragraphs.

~~~
SparksZilla
I thought he made a number of good points all tied together around the
suggestion that people aren't taking enough time to read on the web.

Angus, have you read Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death?" I have a
feeling you would enjoy it, and would love to hear your comments on it. Keep
up the good work.

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thejerz
This author needs to learn another rule of writing: concision.

~~~
JacobAldridge
I actually want to acknowledge Angus for a nicely crafted article. He uses a
focused hook (the Oxford Comma) as a way to enter a broader discussion, and
then neatly rounds out the article by bringing it back in - albeit a little
bluntly - at the end.

I acknowledge that you may be trolling here with a pithy critical comment on
an article about how easy it is to write pithy critical comments.

~~~
thejerz
No, I mean the article was too long and it could have been stated in fewer
words. I am not trolling.

~~~
JacobAldridge
I thought that was what you were saying - the trolling thing was me
recognising I may have misread you, so I'm glad I didn't. Thanks for
clarifying though!

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AmVess
The title should read, "The Oxford Comma, and The Internet."

~~~
nelsonweiss
An Oxford comma is used in a list. Two items wouldn't have a comma between
them.

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breadbox
"The internet is brimming with exceptional writing, and yet, the good content
makes up a tiny fraction of the whole, and there is a compelling sense that
it's a diminishing fraction."

It's hard to take the rest of the article seriously after reading a sentence
like this. We're talking about an issue that almost certainly predates the
written word, never mind the internet. Don't confuse your growing awareness of
a problem with the growth of a problem.

~~~
1wheel
The next several paragraphs discuss reasons why the internet is unique.

Also:

> Writing online is so nearly effortless that reading (not to mention
> reflection, deliberation and thought) has become a chore in comparison. It's
> easier to jot off a patronizing, indignant or self-aggrandizing missive than
> it is to take the trouble to read the whole article or give fair
> consideration to the author's perspective. Thus the vicious circle sets in…

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mayoff
Lou Montulli gave us the solution years ago. Perl, Python<blink>,</blink> and
Ruby.

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0hrly
'... and there is a compelling sense that it's a diminishing fraction.'

There is a compelling sense? I had to reread that a few times to try and make
sense of it. Awkward, at the least.

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klapinat0r
I've always used the Oxford comma when confusion/misunderstandings of a list
could occur. That may or may not be Oxford comma, but it is how AP guides it,
IIRC

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mrpsbrk
anyway, i can't help thinking this forms such a powerful combo with another
post very close in time... <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5247237>

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__abc
1 - I use an Oxford comma 2 - WTF are we talking about Oxford commas?

~~~
__abc
W == Why, as in, "Why the fuck?".

~~~
taproot
The traditional meaning of WTF used in that sentence is perfectly fine
internet grammar.

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huhsamovar
Vim or Emacs?

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benregenspan
"And while there are many Americans who care deeply about their beloved comma,
in the UK (outside of the OUP) it's rarely used."

The British call drunk driving "drink driving", which is nonsensical. Based on
this fact alone, the rest of the English-speaking world should disregard their
writing patterns when determining correct usage.

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EliRivers
"Drunk driving" is nonsensical; the people doing it aren't driving drunks,
they're driving cars. It's almost as if "drink driving" and "drunk driving"
aren't actually meant to be literal descriptions of an act but are a
linguistic shorthand commonly used to refer to a situation.

~~~
benregenspan
While I don't want to take an unfunny joke I made in the Hacker News comments
too far and am sorry for hurting any British people's feelings, "drunk
driving" does make sense as a literal description of an act, unlike "drink
driving". "Drunk" is an adjective which modifies "driving" (which is used as a
noun in this case).

