http://www.telp.com/editing/styfaq2.htm#q20 Should one always put a comma before the "and" or "or" that concludes a series of three or more items? Coordinator: Tom Tadfor Little Comments: Anyone got an email address for Associated Press? They gotta see this. POSITION 1 (47 votes): Always use the serial comma. EXPLANATION: Claire Kehrwald Cook (Line by Line) explains this well, so I'm just going to quote her (him?). "Follett points out the fallacy in regarding [the comma] as superfluous: a conjunction, which connects, cannot do the job of a comma, which separates. Without the comma the final item may seem to be a compound." In the sentence "The agency lists openings in publishing, broadcasting, advertising, and public relations", the absence of the comma could turn "advertising and public relations" into a single field. Another reason for using the final comma is to acknowledge the pause before the "and". If a writer only uses a final comma to resolve ambiguous situations, her inconsistency will confuse the reader. Since all style books require the comma in cases where the last or next to last item include the word "and" or "or," it is inconsistent and confusing to the reader to mix styles--so let's just use it all the time. I am especially uncomfortable with a "rule" that says don't use something except to avoid confusion. Why not use it all the time and be sure you have avoided confusion, particularly when there is no harm done by doing so. A comma, after all, uses only a small amount of the world's precious ink reserves. It also would eliminate the constant bickering between English departments and journalism departments at a multitude of colleges and universities. Examples of silliness caused by omitting the serial comma: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God." "For lunch we ordered BLT, peanut butter and tuna sandwiches from the delicatessen." "Here lies Charlie Weeks, a lawyer and an honest man." "Door prizes will include lab equipment, books written by members of the bio department and a fruitcake." POSITION 2 (15 votes): It depends. EXPLANATION: I spend Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays whacking journalism students when they use the serial comma, because it is a violation of AP style, which, for better or worse, is what we teach because that's what they use at newspapers, wire services and other places. I spend Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays writing memos, letters, and other documents, and never fail to use the serial comma as appropriate. (It should be obvious why I am like I am, but I'm OK, I'm OK, I'm OK, I'm OK . . . or that's what they keep telling me.) Really, though, I have used AP for so long that now, the serial comma often looks funny to me. Seriously, though, I guess the big hangup is "always"--there are times you just don't need it for clarity, so let's dump it . . .