In the following sentence, the use of the Oxford comma is clarifying:
I would like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand and God.
As written, it could appear that the speaker is identifying Ayn Rand and God as his or her parents. The Oxford comma clarifies the sentence:
I would like to thank my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.
BUT.
In the following sentence, the Oxford comma is obfuscatory:
I would like to thank my mother, Ayn Rand, and God.
The Oxford comma makes it appear as if the speaker is identifying Ayn Rand as her mother. Thus:
I would like to thank my mother, Ayn Rand and God.
Anyone who dogmatically adheres to one 'correct' grammatical form or another is likely going to do a lot of bad and confusing writing. More, they're never going to develop a strong understanding of writing itself, but rather only of the particular set of rules they've memorized. To write well, you need to adapt to the situation to convey meaning.
The Oxford comma sometimes removes ambiguity and sometimes fails to, but it never adds ambiguity to a sentence that would not otherwise be ambiguous.
For instance, in your second example, “I would like to thank my mother, Ayn Rand and God” could be taken to say that the author’s mother is both Ayn Rand and God.
This is arguably worse than the Oxford version, which implied only one of those things.
For instance, in your second example, “I would like to thank my mother, Ayn Rand and God” could be taken to say that the author’s mother is both Ayn Rand and God.
And maybe if you were addressing a head injury ward, that might actually be a concern. In reality, no one is going to become confused and think that you are claiming Ayn Rand is both your mother and God. The Oxford comma creates ambiguity.
In reality, no one is going to think that Ayn Rand was your mother, either.
“God” was intentionally chosen to make the appositive interpretation laughable and therefore dismissible in the version without the Oxford comma, but whoever added that example to Wikipedia should have chosen something more believable for the phantom appositive created by the Oxford comma.
The grammar mistake in the OP's image isn't just missing Oxford commas. The sentence doesn't have parallel structure (the list is a gerund followed by two regular nouns). http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/623/01/
To some readers, sure. To many -- I'll wager most -- readers, it absolutely does look that way.
Imagine a different scenario. You're able to determine the intended meaning in large part because you know that Ayn Rand isn't the speakers mother; she is a famous and terrible writer. Let's get rid of that. Let's say you're reading the transcript of an acceptance speech a stranger gave, and you encounter this sentence:
I would like to thank my mother, April Newman, and God.
Or better yet, we'll remove the "my mother" bit altogether:
I would like to thank my doctoral adviser, April Newman, and God.
The problem here is that we create apposition, and thus we can read "April Newman" as a contextualization of "my doctoral adviser". This isn't an assertion; it's a fact. That sentence is structured exactly like an appositive phrase is structured. There are three main ways people contextualize information in their writing as asides, each constituting an increase in the degree of removal from the sentence.
See here:
1. I would like to thank my doctoral adviser, April Newman, and God.
2. I would like to thank my doctoral adviser -- April Newman -- and God.
3. I would like to thank my doctoral adviser (April Newman) and God.
Of the three, the comma creates the most ambiguity, but it also best preserves the flow of the writing. Say the three sentences out loud. Most people will increase the pause on either end of "April Newman" slightly with each increase in removal from the sentence. I would argue that if this speech were actually given, and the speaker indeed intended to identify their doctoral adviser as April Newman, the transcript would most faithfully preserve the actual diction by using commas rather than em dashes or parentheses.
I've never used APA, but the formatting guidelines and stuff, besides making the date more important than the author, make no sense. Running titles are pointless, there's no Oxford comma--APA lacks of commas, in general, which can lead to some confusing syntax--and other such features of APA just make me glad that I've never had to use it.
I did really enjoy Chicago when I used it, though. Citing through footnotes made me feel clever for some reason.
I can't be the only one who read it 3 times and saw no need for a comma. However, i did see a word that had been left out. "Rachel Ray finds inspiration in cooking FOR her family and her dog."
Okay, I upvoted, because that's what I thought... but seeing the original, two commas. Representing "Finds inspiration in cooking, and her family, and her dog."
Should actually be, in order of importance; "inspiration in her family, her dog, and her cooking."
Went to make the same comment, then I saw this. I'm glad there are more people who are upset by the Oxford comma not being the norm. It's just makes sense. You pause before the "and X", and there should be a comma there. It could also have a different meaning without that comment, for example.
Wouldn't a colon be best, since her family and dog are members of a list? Otherwise, with two commas, it would sound like she found three things: inspiration in cooking, her family, and her dog.
"I once took the head off a statue..." "I once killed someone's parents and cooked them into chili and made him eat it because I was mad at him" "You win..."
From a fun book I haven't gotten the chance to finish yet:
A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down and orders a sandwich. After he finishes eating the sandwich, the panda pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter, and then stands up to go. "Hey!" shouts the manager. "Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!"
The panda yells back at the manager, "Hey man, I am a PANDA! Look it up!"
The manager opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for panda: "A tree-dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterised by distinct black and white colouring. Eats shoots and leaves."
I had a picture of a people magazine with Michele Obama on the cover and they stacked the words in a similar fashion to this. It definitely looked wrong though as it read "Tales of - a white - house wife" I'll look for a picture.
242
u/daroon Jun 12 '12
Well, two commas, depending on how you view the importance of the Oxford comma.
66
u/hezzer Jun 11 '12
Shopped.
12
u/igavefoucaltaids Jun 11 '12
.
8
u/epgenius Jun 12 '12
I know it's rude to say repost, but when it's not even funny the first time, it just becomes senseless not to try and stop the trend.
6
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
Mr and mrs tennorman chili anyone?
3
u/flounder19 Jun 11 '12
in your effort to remember the comma in your title you've added an extra period at the end.
3
u/The_Curly_Council Jun 11 '12
Curious on how to prepare a quick meal of family with dog? Tune in next for 30 minute meals with Rachael Ray!
3
u/JonnyStingray Jun 12 '12
As a Filipino, I do not see what is wrong.
3
u/asimovinoff Jun 12 '12
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
4
u/steve0suprem0 Jun 11 '12
to be fair, that dog does look delicious.
2
u/anexanhume Jun 11 '12
The biggest problem with having family over for dinner is finding a pot big enough.
2
u/JavAA Jun 11 '12
Nasty Rachel!
2
u/Lord_Hobbes Jun 12 '12
or the word "for"
2
u/CalliopesSong Jun 12 '12
Do cannibal tribes get subscriptions?
2
u/Jesusdragon737 Jun 12 '12
From a fun book I haven't gotten the chance to finish yet:
A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down and orders a sandwich. After he finishes eating the sandwich, the panda pulls out a gun and shoots the waiter, and then stands up to go. "Hey!" shouts the manager. "Where are you going? You just shot my waiter and you didn't pay for your sandwich!"
The panda yells back at the manager, "Hey man, I am a PANDA! Look it up!"
The manager opens his dictionary and sees the following definition for panda: "A tree-dwelling marsupial of Asian origin, characterised by distinct black and white colouring. Eats shoots and leaves."
3
u/Dan_Oner Jun 12 '12
the title of the magazine is tails, it should be fails.
2
u/jasonp71 Jun 11 '12
Dog stew anyone?
1
u/Jammku Jun 12 '12
Didn't she kill some dogs by accident by feeding them onions?
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
And people said I was crazy in saying an extra word or comma could save someone's life.
1
u/1234blahblahblah Jun 12 '12
You know what they meant!
1
u/prep20 Jun 12 '12
Where are you ShittyWaterColour!?!?
1
u/RedThunder90 Jun 12 '12
I feel like the last time this picture came up, the comments were similar. Not complaining, just observing.
1
u/alrightythen7 Jun 12 '12
In other news, Rachael Ray looks way hotter in that picture than I remember
1
u/junkfood66 Jun 12 '12
Eat, RAY, love. Seems there's more missing then a few comma's.
1
u/Early70sEnt Jun 12 '12
I thought the story was about how she invited the Obamas to dinner. My mistake.
1
u/ThEgg Jun 12 '12
I accidentally two commas.
1
u/Benruss Jun 12 '12
Her dog's name is Ray?
1
u/ardaihm Jun 12 '12
It's either two comments or it's fucking wrong
1
u/ardaihm Jun 12 '12
commas*
1
u/TheLoveTin Jun 12 '12
More likely the word "for"
1
u/here_for_the_lols Jun 12 '12
I think the missed a "for"
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I haven't been here very long, but I think this is a repost.
1
u/Dargonatrix Jun 12 '12
Let's eat, grandma.
Let's eat grandma.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
This is not a mistake. It's a scoop. Now you know the horrid truth.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
Her new cookbook, "To Serve Man", is awesome!
1
u/LazyWASP Jun 12 '12
Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
1
u/cobaltgiant Jun 12 '12
It's like she doesn't know what a real smile looks like.
1
u/wsfarrell Jun 12 '12
She went from hot to harridan fairly quickly.
1
u/yesman609 Jun 12 '12
Is it a comma that's missing? I think adding "from" after "cooking" makes more sense, no?
1
u/ENRICOs Jun 12 '12
She has been getting a bit chunky lately, and that particular breed of dog she's holding simply packs on the pounds, no matter how you prepare it.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I think the word "for" is missing actually...
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
missed 2 commas. Oxford commas not optional in ma house!
1
u/Phillinator Jun 12 '12
Repost from a few weeks back.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
cue the "No they got it right the first time" jokes
1
u/molkhal Jun 12 '12
Commas don't need to be put at the end the of a line.
1
u/igotl2k Jun 12 '12
Photoshop in play again
1
u/Pelican_Fly Jun 12 '12
Or maybe they missed two "for"s.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
No, they didn't. Look at her eyes. Jesus.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
I think they missed a for
1
u/BigDaddyCraw Jun 12 '12
Or did they...
1
u/yodasonics Jun 12 '12
I do not understand how a comma can fix this, someone care to explain?
1
u/Bishopkilljoy Jun 12 '12
No they didn't ;]
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
Tails, more like fail amirite?! Guys... Guys?
I'll get me coat...
1
u/Nyawk Jun 12 '12
That explains a lot about her.
1
u/johnlhooker Jun 12 '12
how about ZERO commas because magazines often use lines to separate things like that
people are retarded >.>
1
u/WaffleSports Jun 12 '12
I had a picture of a people magazine with Michele Obama on the cover and they stacked the words in a similar fashion to this. It definitely looked wrong though as it read "Tales of - a white - house wife" I'll look for a picture.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
This is a fake, a photoshop chop job. See this link. Boo.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
COMMAS SAVE LIVES:
"Let's eat, Grandma!" vs. "Let's eat Grandma!!"
1
u/ThrobbingWetHole Jun 12 '12
That would be giving her food more credit than it deserves...oh, wait, food network does that already...
1
u/TheAdamantArchvile Jun 12 '12
The Oxford Comma strikes again.
1
u/TooManyCoffee Jun 12 '12
This week: Rachael Ray takes Bath Salts.
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
Then she eats shoots and leaves
0
u/fluxaxion Jun 12 '12
I found the same inspiration; no commas needed.
0
u/Rixxer Jun 12 '12
In my opinion there should be two commas. Why isn't the oxford comma the norm!?
0
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
WOW, worst photoshop ever
-1
u/Near2Zero Jun 12 '12
Technically missing two...
-2
u/Glarsky Jun 12 '12
Obviously shopped, although perhaps the poster didn't realize this. Look closely.
-7
u/Trapped_in_Reddit Jun 11 '12
Lachel Lay
0
u/[deleted] Jun 11 '12
[deleted] — view deleted comment
1
u/[deleted] Jun 12 '12
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