My Dear Oxford (Serial) comma

✍️ Dear Oxford (Serial) Comma:

When I left the English department at the University of Toronto to direct the new Computer Studies Writing Centre, I always used you. More, I always insisted you be used by my new students in fields such as phising, programing and networking. Perhaps you noticed I didn’t use you in that last sentence. You are rarely used in scientific writing , and over time I came to feel my clinging to you was just a way of clinging to my past life in the English department. My own writing style grew ever more concise in response to the conventions of my students’ disciplinary languages. And I came to see you as somewhat fusty, a relic of a British social hierarchy that placed knowledge of the Oxford comma just below godliness. It’s not that I don’t still love you. You are refined, elegant, and your lineage is stellar. To my dying day, I will use you when leaving you out will cause confusion to my reader. I will always use you when the elements you divide are complex and my reader would find your visual cue helpful. Otherwise, dear Oxford comma, allow me the liberty to omit you when you aren’t necessary. It’s not that I’m cheating on you with some other punctuation mark; I would never do that. I’m just giving you a well-earned rest. ***