Wednesday, October 9, 2024

University commas

From xkcd: “The Oxford one is the most famous, but many major universities have their own comma.”

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I was won over by the joke. But as shallnot points out in a comment on this post (and as I should have remembered), the Oxford comma takes its name from the press, not from the university.

Related reading
All OCA Oxford comma posts (Pinboard)

comments: 2

shallnot said...

Yeah, but… Isn’t Oxford comma a shorthand for “Oxford University Press comma” or even “The Press at Oxford University comma”?

How about “other shoe styles have their own comma”…

Michael Leddy said...

Yes, ir does go with the press. I was won over by the silliness and didn’t even think about the mistake. And as Jason Kottke pointed out some years ago, the university’s branding guide no longer requires it.