Friday, January 29, 2010

Unresolved Ambiguity.

Look, we all knew it was coming and frankly I'm surprised it took this long. Put a bunch of people who think highly of themselves into one building and tell them to write a bunch of reports and it's really only a matter of time. This week two of my bosses had a strenuous disagreement about the usage of the Oxford Comma.

I don't want to keep anyone on the edge of their seat, so I will say that the matter was resolved. It was decided that the Oxford Comma is often seen as extraneous, anachronistic and kinda dumb.

It was also decided that my unending use of the passive voice was a matter for discussion, but I'd rather not get into right now.

5 comments:

Stefanie said...

My office had an entire staff meeting about the oxford comma.

Adam said...

Sounds like they run a real tight ship over there.

emily said...

I love this. I think Oxford commas are important and necessary, but that's just me. Meanwhile, everywhere I've worked has been very anti-Oxford comma, if they've bothered to have an opinion. (I'm also pro-passive voice, to the chagrin of many professors, bosses, and people I've tried to communicate clearly with.)

Lesley said...

My work swears by the "series" comma. Drives me effin' nuts!

Adam said...

While there might be some room for debate over the Oxford comma, my work is vehemently opposed to the passive voice. I am constantly edited for passive voice offenses.