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A bit of comma sense

Ever felt guilty for using a comma before ‘and’? We have. Who can forget the mantra of English teachers up and down the country: you don’t need a comma before ‘and’, they would say. Well guess what. They were wrong.

It’s not just English teachers either. A comma before ‘and’ is often taken out by sub-editors of newspapers, who think it’s unnecessary. And to be fair, it often is. But not always. It’s another one of those English language myths, like starting a sentence with ‘And’ or ‘But’, or splitting an infinitive.

Putting a comma before ‘and’ is perfectly acceptable if it helps clarify the meaning of the sentence. It even has its own name – the ‘Oxford comma’ – due to its consistent use by Oxford University Press. And not only its own name, its own darn song: ‘Oxford Comma’, by trendy American songsters Vampire Weekend….

What the song probably doesn’t make clear is that the Oxford comma is useful to add clarity in complicated lists, or lists where some of the elements themselves contain the word ‘and’. For example:

Rebecca was proud of her new cupcake recipes: blueberry, peanut butter and chocolate chip and coconut.

Without the comma, you can’t be sure how many new recipes there are. Is it four or three? And if it’s three, is it peanut butter and choc chip, or choc chip and coconut? Or is it two flavours, the second being a tempting combination of peanut butter, choc chip and coconut?

But put the comma in and all becomes clear:

Rebecca was proud of her new cupcake recipes: blueberry, peanut butter and chocolate chip, and coconut.

So, next time you’re tempted to insert a comma before ‘and’, just sing-a-long with Vampire Weekend and go for it.

The meaning of the word gloaming

Inspired by Keats and his ode ’To Autumn’, we’re feeling a bit poetic. And in honour of the new season, this month we are mostly liking  gloaming.

Gloaming (noun) is that dusky time of the evening, where the shadows are long and the sun has nearly disappeared for the day.

Not really used much nowadays, perhaps it’s time for a revival.

“You can’t play out on your bikes much longer, it’s nearly gloaming.”

“We collected conkers and berries long into the gloaming hours.”

The meaning of the word crespuscular

A similar, and equally evocative word is crepuscular. Those twilight hours or things that become active when the sun goes down.

“Vampires are so popular these days. I can’t understand my daughter’s fascination with those crepuscular creatures.”

“Students are so crepuscular; they never see daylight.”

Here at Wordsworks copywriting agency, we’re big readers. Newspapers, books, comics, cornflake packets, whatever you’ve got. And every so often, there’s a piece of writing that reminds us why we love what we do.

It’s here. And it succinctly describes the beautifully simple language used by uber-brand Apple.

The article also happens to fit neatly with our copywriting philosophy: that concise and clear is very powerful. To write words that are effortless to read.

Apple has shown consistently, and ruthlessly, that good language can go hand in hand with good profits.

Amen to that.