The comma inbetween?

[Luigison]

Most people from my generation used a comma preceding the "and" when listing sets, but most younger generations don't.  It could be argued that the comma is not necessary since the word "and" is used, but I think it avoids confusion.  What do you do?  What do you think of the practice either way? 

[Chupperson Weird]

Comma for grammatical clarity. Otherwise it seems like you are listing two things at the same time.

[The Chef]

I always put the comma there. I always have, and I always will.

[CrossEyed7]

When writing a will, there's a big difference between saying you leave one chair each to Alice, Bob, and Carol vs. to Alice, Bob and Carol.

Leaving out the Oxford comma grates on me almost as much as inserting a comma anywhere there's a pause or always saying "Jim and I" when "Jim and me" is the right one most of the time.

[Chupperson Weird]

Hahaha, the mistaken overuse of "and I" makes me grimace constantly.

[Glorb]

I kind of switch between the two depending on how formal I want to sound. Generally, though, I think the "and" is enough of a heads-up that what's coming next is seperate and distinct than what came before.

[Turtlekid1]

I use a comma.

And why the sudden interest in typing/writing habits, Luigison?

[ShadowBrain]

Used to not use the comma, now I do. Only in a list, though, am I certain to; on other occasions, I'm not always so sure.

[Sqrt2]

Given that (when writing a list) a comma is equivalent to writing "and", I don't.


For Example: I would write "bread, jam and honey", not "bread, jam, and honey".

[Chupperson Weird]

One can argue that they are not equivalent, as the comma is the logical delimiter here, so in the first example you have two objects, "bread" and "jam and honey", while in the second you have three. But it could be just cause you're British.

[Koopaslaya]

I enjoy writing well, spelling correctly, and using a comma before the "and" in a list.

[Luigison]

And why the sudden interest in typing/writing habits, Luigison?

I've seen a lot of conventions, grammar and otherwise, change over the years and was curious as to this forum's opinions on them.  I couldn't care less how many spaces someone uses after a period, question mark, exclamation mark, or colon as long as they follow their own convention throughout the writing, but the lack of or misuse of commas in lists bothers me because the comma is a form of logic in the sentence. 

[Black Mage]

This rules sticks with me. I always use a comma preceding an and when listing things.

I can remember in fifth grade we had a grammar worksheet and passed ours to another student for them to grade based on the teacher's and my friend whom was grading mine tried to mark me off for using the comma. Upon asking the teacher, though, she corrected him. I'm not sure why that memory sticks out, but it has enforced the comma preceding an and convention in me.

Perhaps it has had a negative impact on me though, as I tend to over use the comma when typing resulting in a large number of comma splices. I tend to place them in areas where I would pause in a sentence, which is not always appropriate grammatically.

[ShadowBrain]

I don't think I'll ever be sure when to use a comma sometimes...