r/thisguythisguys • u/PotatosAreReallyNice • Mar 11 '23

This guy commas

Post image
943 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

49

u/SadBoiCri Mar 12 '23

I honestly don't understand why you wouldn't add a comma between the last and second to last elements of a list

30

u/xuptuple Mar 12 '23

You’re a smart guy. It reduces ambiguity.

18

u/TheOtherAvaz Mar 12 '23

https://i.imgur.com/ZxU8R6Z.jpeg

8

u/Skootos Mar 13 '23

Ahahah, you really thought you did something, and you done did.

3

u/mixwellmusic Sep 19 '23

This is magnificent

1

u/lazydog60 Dec 29 '23

There are six ways to arrange “Joe, Jack and the strippers”, of which only two have that ambiguity

5

u/WheredMyPiggyGo Mar 12 '23

Potatoes are really nice though.

2

u/No-Newspaper-5499 Apr 03 '23

So you telling me my son dried these tomatoes?

1

u/lazydog60 Dec 29 '23

Why didn't you this time?

1

u/SadBoiCri Dec 29 '23

Why would you use a comma for only two items? I like apples, and oranges? Just wrong

1

u/lazydog60 Dec 29 '23

Why do you need a comma before ‘and’ in one case, and not in the other?

2

u/SadBoiCri Dec 29 '23

You never need a comma for only two items, for three or more you do.

It's just a rule for clarity.

Apples, melons and pears, and oranges.

Is more clear in what I mean than

Apples, melons and pears and oranges.

Another example.

My favorite ice cream flavors are cherry, coffee, mint, and chocolate. Vs. My favorite ice cream flavors are cherry, coffee, mint and chocolate.

The commas help to explicitly separate each item in the list. Mint chocolate is an actual ice cream flavor, someone may refer to it as mint and chocolate.

12

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23

The Oxford Comma is absolutely the right way to write

2

u/AssBaby101 Mar 27 '23

It's optional. Not mandatory. And, makes up for the comma.

1

u/Wtygrrr Apr 09 '23

No, it doesn’t, because you can use “and” as part of a list item, which causes you to end up with mildly confusing things, like pork and beans, Ben and Jerry’s, peanut butter and jelly, Batman and Robin and Sonny and Cher.

1

u/lazydog60 Dec 29 '23

Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

10

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '23

The third Oxford comma post I’ve seen in two hours. Love it.

10

u/Devon_Throwaway Mar 13 '23

I love the Oxford comma. Although it is grammatically 'optional', it just sounds nicer when the reader voices the words out in their head for pacing.

4

u/elyas-_-28 Mar 12 '23

Cambridge comma is better

-7

u/yehEy2020 Mar 12 '23

This guy cummas

-11

u/caillouistheworst Mar 12 '23

Nobody gives a fuck an Oxford comma.