Oxford comma

If you didn't know about the Oxford comma before the band Vampire Weekend arrived on the music scene in the mid-2000s, you probably did afterward; ...

If instead of “To my parents, Ayn Rand, and God,” the dedication reads “To my mother, Ayn Rand, and God,” it’s unclear whether the mother and Ayn Rand are separate entities, or whether Ayn Rand is [an appositive referring to the mother](https://redirect.viglink.com/?key=432db143fab4826620fe7b8eb31c6901&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grammarly.com%2Fblog%2Fappositive%2F&cuid=xid:fr1676416493aas)—that is, that the mother is Ayn Rand. In this case, the ambiguity is resolved with the removal of the Oxford comma: “To my mother, Ayn Rand and God.” [Chicago Style](https://cmosshoptalk.com/2020/02/11/oxford-chicago-and-the-serial-comma/) and [APA Style](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/punctuation/serial-comma), stipulate the use of the Oxford comma, others, such as the [AP Style guide](https://redirect.viglink.com/?key=432db143fab4826620fe7b8eb31c6901&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grammarly.com%2Fblog%2Fwhat-is-the-oxford-comma-and-why-do-people-care-so-much-about-it%2F&cuid=xid:fr1676416493aao) used in journalism and reporting, do not. [“To my parents, Ayn Rand and God”](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/33637/best-shots-fired-oxford-comma-wars)—the implication being that the writer’s parents are Ayn Rand and God. [first recorded instance](https://redirect.viglink.com/?key=432db143fab4826620fe7b8eb31c6901&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.oed.com%2Fview%2FEntry%2F135568%3FredirectedFrom%3Doxford%2Bcomma%23eid32306909&cuid=xid:fr1676416493aan) of the phrase “Oxford comma.” The context within the book itself seems to imply that the term was already known at that point—which, as [Jasso Lamberg pointed out](https://comdesres.com/origin-of-the-oxford-comma/) at his website Comdesres in 2015, is a little weird (Wrote Lamberg, “Not to criticize the OED, but it seems a bit incredible that the first ever usage of the term in print would be so late. Interestingly, the arguments both for and against the use of the Oxford comma usually revolve around ambiguity. The short answer is that the serial comma is used in the Oxford University Press’ house style—but of course, there’s a lot more to it than just that. Evidently therefore in this case, inasmuch as when enumerating these colours [sic] black, white, and green, the white is just as much to be emphasized as the other two, it needs the pause after it just as much as the black does.” [Collins’ Author’s and Printer’s Dictionary](https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033595789&view=1up&seq=7), which was originally published under the title Author & Printer: A Guide for Authors, Editors, Printers, Correctors of the Press Compositors, and Typists in 1905, was an answer to some issues Collins had with Hart’s Rules: They were, wrote Collins in the preface to the second edition (which was also printed in 1905), “not altogether in accordance with the practice of many of our best printers, and, being intended for compositors and readers only, was not sufficiently complete for authors.” For instance, the sentence “Peter was a wise, holy, and energetic man” is among the first listed in the section on commas. The serial comma is used when listing three or more things in a series; specifically, it’s the comma that appears immediately after the second-to-last item in the list and before the coordinating conjunction that leads into the final item. [the last comma in a list](https://redirect.viglink.com/?key=432db143fab4826620fe7b8eb31c6901&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.grammarly.com%2Fblog%2Foxford-comma-debate%2F&cuid=xid:fr1676416493aab) of three or more things”; however, as many other definitions point out, the details do matter.