The Serial Comma

[Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au>]

**Is anyone saying, "Never under any circumstances use the serial 
comma"? I don't think so. I believe the discussion is between those who 
think it should always be used and those who think it should be used 
when necessary (and not used when not necessary).

This sentence is wrong whether it has the comma or not, so I don't see 
it as a useful example.

Regards

Stuart

*From*: *Ken Banks <edits -at- hawaii -dot- rr -dot- com>*
** If anyone is still interested, here is a real-world example from my 
current job.

"The best management practices may include typical mitigation measures 
such as using silt fences, protecting inlets and catch basins, 
appropriately stockpiling materials on site to prevent runoff and 
building over, and establishing landscaping as early as possible on 
disturbed soils . . ." [Yes, there's more.] This writing is grotesque; 
please don't write to tell me about the other problems with it. Some of 
them I will fix, others I will not. If I made this document read like 
[pick an example of good writing and editing], I would be exceeding my 
authority.

There should be a comma after "runoff." We're not appropriately 
stockpiling materials on site to prevent "building over," which is how 
it reads. And the comma after "building over" should be deleted, because 
building over and establishing landscaping go together as ways to 
minimize erosion. Building over means constructing buildings.

What is to be gained by not using it?
Ken
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