Tim Fairchild said on 05.04.2007 11:20:
On Thursday 05 April 2007 18:45, Peter Reaper wrote:
Adrian Try said on 03.04.2007 14:02:
Hi again
BTW: Your signature is missing a comma before the "and":
--> Computer software should be affordable, effective, and safe.
^
http://www.drgrammar.org/faqs/#26 - see "2)"
Thanks very much for the correction. I wonder if the grammar checker
that many people are asking for would have helped?
It's interesting - I was taught at school not to use a comma before the
"and" in a list. Wikipedia raises an interesting issue: the rule you
mention is definitely true with American English, but not necessarily so
outside of America. It is an issue of much debate. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma
I'll leave the comma out for the moment (apologies to all Americans),
and I'll keep my eyes open to see what the main usage is here in
Australia.
Did you read the explanation in my link above why a serial comma avoids
ambiguity:
Crapping on about the punctuation in an email just makes you look like a
smartass. Not that the other posts don't help.
Umm, crapping on about being disinterested in clear and correct use of
language makes you look like an idiot.
--
Regards,
Peter Reaper
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