What's the Oxford Comma and Who Are You?

First things first.

The Oxford Comma, also known as the serial comma is the comma used immediately before a grammatical conjunction (usually and or or, and sometimes nor) preceding the final item in a list of three or more items. For example, here's a list I found of the Top 10 Strangest How-To Books: How to Steal a Dog, How to Make a Dirty Movie, How to be a Pope, How to Break the Cycle of Life and Death, How to Raise and Keep a Dragon, How to Start Your Own Country, How to Pee Standing Up, How to Speak Cat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising, and How to Become a Schizophrenic. That last little comma in there is the Oxford Comma.

The Oxford Comma is also a song by Vampire Weekend. When Michael Hogan of Vanity Fair interviewed Ezra Koenig regarding the title of the song and its relevance to the song's meaning, Koenig had this to say: he first encountered the Oxford Comma when a group of Columbia University students created a group titled "Students for the Preservation of the Oxford Comma", which prompted the idea of the song several months later while sitting at a piano in his parents' house. He began "writing the song and the first thing that came out was 'Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?'". He stated that the song "is more about not giving a fuck than about Oxford commas."

The opening lines of the song are:

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford Comma?
I've seen those English dramas, too. They're cruel.

I'll let you know if the song applies to my Oxford experience.

This picture shows the band in a library with books in which the Oxford Comma may be found in its natural habitat.


Second Things Second:
Below is me sitting in front of my bookshelf, peaking over a paperback copy of Seamus Heaney's acclaimed translation of Beowulf. I am Katie (or Kwills). I am a Macalester College English major studying abroad this spring at Saint Catherine's College of Oxford University. Let's all have a quick laugh about the fact that my name is Katherine and the name of my school is Catherine.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Excellent! For more info about me, you can check out my profile, or just ask :)


My blog is The Oxford Comma(nt) which you can now chortle about since I just taught you about the Oxford Comma and we can all see the clever pun. My intention is to fill this blog with pictures, lists, jokes, and of course comments about my experience throughout the upcoming semester.

Wish me luck!

"You've really got to start hitting the books because it's no joke out here." --Spike Lee