Re: Items in a Series and Comma Use

[Ken Banks <edits -at- hawaii -dot- rr -dot- com>]

Al Geist writes

<<This is one of those battles that will go on forever and never, 
ever be settled to everyone's liking.  For the record, I am an old 
journalist (among other things) and in our industry, the last comma 
is not needed.

This, that and the other thing is good.
This, that, and the other thing is not good.

Do both sentences carry the same meaning....yep.>>

I've seen examples in tech writing & editing books in which the 
absence of the final comma made a big difference . . . (search 
through books) . . .Ok, Carolyn D. Rude, in her book *Technical 
Editing,* (Allyn & Bacon 1998) states that "most handbooks" recommend 
using the final comma. She writes, "The comma is especially important 
for clarification when one item in the series includes a conjunction. 
A coordinating conjunction may signal that one of the items in the 
series has two components as well as signal the end of the series. 
The comma establishes with certainty that the series is ending. Some 
readers may stumble over the following sentence.

"Good hygiene, such as sneezing into a tissue, washing hands before 
handling food and cleaning utensils and cutting boards thoroughly, 
eliminates most of the risk of transmitting bacteria in food handling."

She acknowledges that the final comma is not used in journalism and 
advises writers using a journalistic style to structure sentences so 
as to prevent confusion.

HTH
Ken


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