serial comma

noun

variants or less commonly series comma

: a comma used to separate the second-to-last item in a list from a final item introduced by the conjunction and or or

If you've always used the serial comma—"red, white, and blue"—its absence can look slipshod and lazy. If you were taught the more streamlined AP style—"red, white and blue"—the extra comma may seem fussy and pretentious.

—Jan Freeman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3 Apr. 2011

called also Harvard comma, Oxford comma

Word History

First Known Use

1922, in the meaning defined above

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Rhymes for serial comma

• katayama
• melodrama
• pranayama
• psychodrama
• agama
• bahama
• pajama
• ulama
• brahma
• chama
• dama
• drama

Video

The Serial Comma Explained

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?