Dear Geist,
I’m surprised that a publisher so careful about grammar, usage, tone, voice, etc., doesn’t know enough to use the serial comma (a.k.a. third comma, Oxford comma, Harvard comma). What gives?
—Leo, Cyberspace
Dear Leo,
At Geist, less is more. The serial comma is in vogue with many prominent publications, but it is a preference, not a law. In a sentence where a serial comma would prevent misreading, we would insert one, just as any good editor would tweak any “rule” for the sake of readability. We are always surprised by the intense heat generated on this question among rank beginners, seasoned professionals and many in between. But hey, if the New Yorker can put an umlaut over the second o in cooperative, and set book titles in quotation marks, we can go without the third comma.
—The Editors
