US vs UK English - Serial/Oxford Comma

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The Serial/Oxford Comma

The serial comma or “Oxford comma” for the Brits, is a comma placed before the last item in a list of three or more things.

In American English, the serial comma is often used in lists as standard.

In British English, a serial comma is only required when a list would be unclear without one, such as in the example above.

Most American English style guides recommend using this comma as standard:

I believe in good spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

When things get unclear though both American and British English use a serial comma to ensure clarity.

For example, the following sentence is ambiguous:

I’m going out with my brothers, Tim and Dave.

Is it a list of three items? Or are my brothers named Tim and Dave? We can clarify this instantly by adding a serial comma before “Dave,”

I’m going out with my brothers, Tim, and Dave.

Here, we can easily see that “my brothers,” “Tim,” and “Dave” are all separate people.