Nuances and Idiosyncrasies of the English Language
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@AdamJ That was my favourite as well.
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Let’s not get into the roll, bap, barm cake, cob discussion
Many years ago I used to work in a high street electronics store on weekends and the manager used to love saying to customers who would come in and say can you help me out with the response of of course sir which way did you come in
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Team Oxford comma here, and I think skipping the last serial comma is syntactic malpractice.
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I seriously enjoy this thread. And laughing to myself, as I consider myself pretty good in english which is my second language. I realize now how much I mix english english (taught in school) and american english, which I've learned watching movies, series and old rock'nroll, which makes me probably using quite old idoms or slang. But one thing I almost hate, when people say something is badass, when it's just nice car of bike or clothes you wear or something similar. To me, badass is somebody who can literally kick my ass. (those are few :-D) Please, carry on.
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I’m just sitting back waiting for @mclaincausey ’s 1000 word essay on the history and merits of the Oxford comma. To which I will simply and succinctly reply: You’re wrong.
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Ambiguous: I invited my parents, Alice and Bob
Clear: I invited my parents, Alice, and Bob
Beyond that it just makes more sense syntactically if you think about the function of a comma.
QED
Think it, be it.
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There is an opinion here in Russia that in English the sound R has become unclear because once upon a time in Foggy Albion the population had problems with teeth. This is just a theory. My ex-wife's second husband is Canadian. So he, in turn, compared the sound of the Russian language with the creaking of an unselected cart) You, he says, growl, rattle and make noise and do not speak)))
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funny of course. We do not hear our native language from the outside and perceive it as given. And foreigners cover their ears and swear))
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I love how Japanese translators convert “selvage” to “cell bitch”
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@mclaincausey said in Nuances and Idiosyncrasies of the English Language:
Ambiguous: I invited my parents, Alice and Bob
Clear: I invited my parents, Alice, and Bob
Beyond that it just makes more sense syntactically if you think about the function of a comma.
QED
I invited my parents, Alice and Bob. Next?
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I used to be a stalwart anti Oxford comma person but came around because a proofreader friend of mine is basically my Yoda of grammar and convinced me. I got used to it.
There’s also the fact that being anti is a minority opinion and it just gets annoying as fuck always having to hear people give you the spiel.
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@Matt you’ve played into the problem. Because I know you don’t use an Oxford comma, your intent is ambiguous. Are you saying you invited your parents, whose names are Alice and Bob, or are you saying you invited your parents along with non-parents Alice and Bob?
You’ve just reiterated my point here.
Think it, be it.
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Generally, arbitrary exceptions generate confusion. That’s another reason skipping the final serial comma in a list doesn’t make syntactic sense. It’s just another stupid thing to have to think about. I’m all about simplicity.
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this is a case where no comma is best.
