Understanding the Oxford Comma

Welcome to episode 031 of the Technical Writing Success podcast from Curt Robbins & Associates.

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Today’s show teaches listeners about the highly controversial topic of the Oxford comma. Introduced in 1905 in Great Britain, this grammatical convention has divided writers and IT professionals for decades.

Hosts Daphne and Fred share their analysis of the article "Understanding the Oxford Comma" from the Curt Robbins & Associates Technical Writing Agency that was published on September 25, 2024.

An excerpt from the article: "However, to be fair and objective (objectivity is one of my Pillars of Technical Writing, after all), it must be said that the Oxford comma is not grammatically required. Rather, it is grammatically optional. In other words, failure to use the Oxford comma is not, technically speaking, a mistake (even though many sources, including leading style guides, consider its omission to be an error). This is obviously where the arguments begin."

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