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

[Laurence Horn]

Very nice entry, Garson!  I had always wondered about the locus classicus
of the case for retaining the Oxford comma--the dedication to the author's
parents, Ayn Rand and God--given that Rand was a renowned atheist. It
always struck me that the marriage between the author's parents was
unlikely to be an easy one given its interfaith nature. Not sure "to my
parents, Ayn Rand and the Glory of God" works any better, but it is less
funny.

LH

On Mon, Jul 15, 2024 at 8:27 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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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>

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