![]() Compare "I thank my friend, Smith and Wesson", in which the ambiguity is obvious to those who recognise Smith and Wesson as a business name.Īs a rule of thumb, The Guardian Style Guide suggests that straightforward lists ( he ate ham, eggs and chips) do not need a comma before the final "and", but sometimes it can help the reader ( he ate cereal, kippers, bacon, eggs, toast and marmalade, and tea). Because the comma after "mother" is conventionally used to prepare the reader for an apposite phrase – that is, a renaming of or further information about a noun – this construction suggests that my mother's name is "Anne Smith and Thomas". I thank my mother, Anne Smith and Thomas.This sentence might be recast as "my mother (Anne Smith) and Thomas" for clarity. This could mean either my mother and Anne Smith and Thomas (three people) or my mother, who is Anne Smith and Thomas (two people). I thank my mother, Anne Smith, and Thomas.The serial comma does not eliminate all confusion. ![]()
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