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Should I use an Oxford comma?

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🤔 lcyRoll9692 via Reddit · May 12, 2026
What is an Oxford comma and should I use it?
🙂 Boban D. (Psycholinguist) · May 10, 2026
The Oxford comma, or serial comma, is a punctuation mark used before the last list item of the list when there are two or more items. Not using an Oxford comma looks like "one, two and three." Using it looks like "one, two, and three." This is an important aspect of the Specificity Attribute because in certain situations, the meaning of a sentence can depend on whether the serial comma is used. There was a court case in the state of Maine involving Amazon where the lack of an Oxford comma in the contract actually determined the outcome of the case. Since commas exist in speech, not writing, it’s most likely unimportant to use the serial comma unless you have a profession where you have write. Apple doesn’t use the Oxford comma in their marketing literature, and neither do a lot of other notable people. Lawyers oftentimes do use the Oxford comma, likely because it was emphasized in their training on writing precise contracts.
For a more detailed, authoritative answer, you should check out the entry on psycholinguistics.org where they have academic sources and citations.
Explanation of Oxford comma from psycholinguistics.org
Oxford Comma (Writing) a comma ',' character separator before the last list item in a list of three or more items
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