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

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The Quote Investigator article has been updated with the addition of
the example provided by James. Thanks!
The update should be visible within a few hours.

Quote Origin: Humorous Serial Comma Examples – Are They Genuine or Apocryphal?
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2022/12/29/serial-comma/

[Begin acknowledgement excerpt]
In addition, thanks to James Landau who mentioned the 1960 example and
located its citation.
[End acknowledgement excerpt]

Feedback welcome,
Garson

On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 7:56 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> James Landau wrote:
> > my favorite example: "heavy luggage, two dogs and my wife"
> > . . .
> > This one almost seems plausble that the writer meant that the "heavy luggage" conissted of "two dogs and my wife"
>
> Interesting example of an absent serial comma, James. More details for
> your citation are available via the Internet Archive.
>
> The author, Tom McCahill, described an incident during which he almost
> crashed his Oldsmobile. He avoided the accident with a swift sequence
> of maneuvers, and he praised the quality of his car's suspension.
>
> Date: 1960 March
> Periodical: Mechanix Illustrated,
> Article: The Oldsmobile
> Author:  Tom McCahill,
> Start Page 92, Quote Page 94 and 168,
> Publisher: Fawcett Publications, Greenwich, Connecticut.
> Database: Internet Archive
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> A guy in a little old car was creeping along ahead of me with one
> wheel in the gutter. I pulled toward the center of the road to pass
> him. Suddenly, without any signal whatsoever, this character made a
> hard left turn directly across my path. My car was loaded to the
> gunwales with heavy luggage, two dogs and my wife. By making his left
> turn, the other car had completely blocked the two lanes of highway.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson

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