He elaborated by stating that both chambers of the federal Congress warned against omitting the serial comma "to prevent any misreading that the last item is part of the preceding one", and said that only seven of the American states (including Maine) "either did not require or expressly prohibited the use of the serial comma". Maine legislature drafting guidelines actually recommend against using the serial comma, advising that any confusing sentence be entirely rewritten.īut the appellate judge was obviously a fan, saying: "We would be remiss not to note the clarifying virtues of serial commas that other jurisdictions recognise". (It's worth noting that, even with an additional comma that would prevent Nelson Mandela from being a dildo collector, the sentence is so poorly phrased he could conceivably still be an 800-year-old demigod.) There are two lists in this example that omit the serial comma, although only the second really demands it to eliminate ambiguity. The highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector. "By train, plane and sedan chair, Peter Ustinov retraces a journey made by Mark Twain a century ago. It comes before the final "and" or "or" in a series (a list of three or more items).įor example, "Stone fruits include apricots, plums, and nectarines".Īlthough some think it is clunky, the Maine case strikes a blow for the importance of clarity.Ĭonsider this particularly spectacular example, supposedly from a TV listing in The Times: This contentious comma is the serial comma, often called the "Oxford comma" and in some circles the "Harvard comma". There are other grammatical issues with this clause (neatly unpacked in more detail by Mary Norris in The New Yorker), but David Webbert, a lawyer for the drivers, told The New York Times: "That comma would have sunk our ship". Without the comma, the drivers argued, the law referred only to the act of packing, for the purpose of either shipping or distributing. The missing comma, in this case, would have separated "packing for shipment" and "distribution" into distinct activities, both exempt from overtime. The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: The case hinged on the missing comma after "packing for shipment" in the following clause of Maine state law, which lists exemptions from overtime: Three dairy-truck drivers sued Oakhurst Dairy in 2014 for four years of unpaid overtime wages. Last week, Judge David J Barron upheld an appeal in a class-action lawsuit, opening his opinion with: "For want of a comma, we have this case." ![]() Portland-based company Oakhurst Dairy will potentially owe $US10 million ($13 million) to 75 milk-truck drivers in the US state of Maine because of a missing comma in a legal clause.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |