[License-review] Oxford comma [was: for Approval: The Cryptographic Autonomy License]

[John Cowan]

On Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 11:28 AM Carlo Piana <carlo at piana.eu> wrote:

> You made my day, McCoy. I often use the Oxford comma even not knowing
> what it is, and in Italian too, where it is in theory forbidden, just
> like starting a sentence with "e" ("and"), "o" ("or"), or any
> conjunction at large.
>

Alas, matters are not so simple.  Inserting the comma can also create
ambiguity:
when people normally omit the comma, "I had dinner with Sarah, my sister
and Eric"
clearly means three people, but inserting the comma to make "I had dinner
with
Sarah, my sister, and Eric" suggests that "Sarah" and "my sister" are the
same.
So whether you put it in or you leave it out, you can make trouble for
yourself.



>
> But I suspect we are digressing.
>

Indeed.


>
> Carlo
>
> (also "but" is forbidden at the beginning of a sentence, and a
> parenthetical too, but now being officially a Pirate entitles me to huge
> slack, so WTF!).
>
> On 30/04/19 17:16, Smith, McCoy wrote:
> > Might be a good opportunity to avail yourself (or not, depending on your
> intent) of the Oxford comma:
> https://thewritelife.com/is-the-oxford-comma-necessary/
> >
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> >
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>
>
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