There are days I really think that someone messed up somewhere and I ended up in my sister’s job. Today is one of those days – the last 90 minutes in my office has been spent in a debate about the Oxford Comma (aka Serial Comma)

Here’s the Wikipedia page for those of you who aren’t grammar geeks

I was not a grammar geek in college. Somehow, though, the fact I grew up around my mother (the decided grammar geek) and my sister (the English major) has seeped into my skin.

While I don’t like how it looks, I think the serial comma prevents a lot of confusion when writing copy about products. Because compound adjectives are used quite often, the dash and the “and” are very common. Without a comma, it’s not entirely clear if something is a compound adjective – “red, waterproof and breathable” or two adjectives in a list “red, waterproof, and breathable.”

The most famous example, of course, is “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves”.

No matter what my feelings are, however, some days I still wonder how I ended up in my sister’s job!