Watch: How good is your grammar? A TikTok video explains the uses of the Oxford comma
At least it has sparked off a social media on grammar.
This is actually my favorite TikTok pic.twitter.com/PWtVOSkO77
— Dave Jorgenson 🗞 (@davejorgenson) September 23, 2019
You, could, be, a, grammar, rebel, and, insert, a, comma, wherever, you, like – but, trust us, those won’t make for very readable sentences.
A short TikTok video on the appropriate usage of Oxford or serial commas has gone viral – with social media users hotly debating grammar rules and sentence construction in series of well-punctuated tweets.
A punctuation device most commonly used to deliver a small pause or separate clauses or objects, the use of the comma is governed largely by eight rules.
However, it is the Oxford comma – a comma inserted after ‘and’ or ‘or’ when separating three or more objects – that has, in recent times, been the subject of a lot of contention. TikTok user Keisei Satterfield disputes all contention on the comma, however, using the sentence, “I thanked my parents, Batman, and Superman”, (the correct form), which is different from, “I thanked my parents, Batman and Superman”, (the incorrect form).
Naturally, the video elicited great many online arguments on the uses of the grammar that really appear to have no full stop.
I’m opposed to the Oxford comma because you can rewrite that sentence, not confuse your readers and save yourself a comma.
— Jude (@ndjrs) September 23, 2019
“I thanked Batman, Superman and my parents.”
if you're saying "My 3 favorite sandwiches are reubens, peanut butter and jelly, and meatball. " You don't put the comma between peanut butter and jelly because they go together. They are joined by that and to form one thing.
— Eric Edwards (@UCFONEBIGOHANA) September 23, 2019
Except that the Oxford comma injects unnecessary ambiguity into the following: "I thanked my father, batman, and superman."
— Mark Adams (@markadams44) September 24, 2019
You can see it how you wish. It doesn't make it any less ambiguous than the "I invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin...." example that is frequently cited.
— Mark Adams (@markadams44) September 24, 2019
— Ryan Gustafson (@Ryantrollshard) September 23, 2019
I forever stand by my love of the Oxford comma and this adorable young girl who is equally passionate ❤️
— Ashley Marie Sieb (@AshleySieb) September 23, 2019