[Ads-l] Humorous Serial Comma Examples =?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=94_?=Are They Genuine or Apocryphal?

[Andy Bach]

Just saw a tweet from Neil Gaiman, showing a quote "Good Omens was
co-written almost 30 years ago by Sir Terry [Pratchett], who died in 2015
after a public struggle with Alzheimer's, and Neil Gaiman." and commenting
"I was grateful for the comma."

On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 12:58 PM James Landau <
00000c13e57d49b8-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> On Tue, Jan 3, 2023 at 3:10 AM Martin Purdy <
> 00000bd8cf391c5b-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> > Most cases you see online seem to be concocted, and are all slanted one
> > way to produce the desired outcome.  If you want to "prove" the
> > serial/Oxford comma removes ambiguity, pick a plural referent; for the
> > reverse, pick a singular referent:
> >
> > The photo shows my parents, the Pope and Mother Teresa(ambiguous)
> > The photo shows my parents, the Pope, and Mother Teresa
> >
> > The photo shows my sister, Mother Teresa, and the Pope (ambiguous)
> > The photo shows my sister, Mother Teresa and the Pope
> >
> > I'm a fence-sitter as far as the serial comma goes for that reason, and
> > will try to use whichever form is less ambiguous in anysituation.
> >
> > Martin (UK/NZ)
> >
> my favorite example: "heavy luggage, two dogs and my wife"
>
> https://www.google.com/search?q=%22heavy+luggage%2C+two+dogs+and+my+wife%22&sca_esv=183dc6637f0766c0&tbs=cdr%3A1%2Ccd_min%3A1957%2Ccd_max%3A1963&tbm=bks&sxsrf=ADLYWIKGfp64nxScuEgBhNWfezTAyC9bzQ%3A1721062293928&ei=lVOVZvOfOOG05NoPu86x6Ac&ved=0ahUKEwizvqnVwKmHAxVhGlkFHTtnDH0Q4dUDCAk&oq=%22heavy+luggage%2C+two+dogs+and+my+wife%22&gs_lp=Eg1nd3Mtd2l6LWJvb2tzIiUiaGVhdnkgbHVnZ2FnZSwgdHdvIGRvZ3MgYW5kIG15IHdpZmUiSIdHULEOWN0zcAF4AJABAJgBnwGgAeoKqgEEMTYuMbgBDMgBAPgBAZgCAqACpwHCAgQQIRgKmAMAiAYBkgcBMqAHtiA&sclient=gws-wiz-books
>
> This one almost seems plausble that the writer meant that the "heavy
> luggage" conissted of "two dogs and my wife"
>
> James Landau
> jjjrlandau at netscape.com
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org