Serial Comma Rocks!

As a long-time advocate of the serial comma (i.e. the comma placed between the penultimate item in a comma-separated list and the "and" which separates the last two items) on purely syntactical grounds (it breaks the established pattern where the comma delimits items in the list), I've endured continual deletions of serial commas by well-meaning proofreaders and editors (and almost as ardently replaced them) for many years. It was with great glee that I found the a getitwrite blog entry, referencing two legal syle guides recommending the use of the serial comma (many thanks to cafeaulait.org's "recommended reading" section for the link!).

Some less defensible writing traits of mine are favoring run-on sentences and excessive (to the point of incomprehensibility) use of parenthetical comments, but that's another topic...

Cheers,

Geoff S.