In the world of people who write or deal with writing for a living, the serial comma is a sure thing: these folks are just about guaranteed to have a firm opinion about it at the very least. First, a practical definition: it’s a comma that some schools of thought believe must come before the final conjunction in a list (e.g., “I saw Ralph, Burt, and Earl before I passed out from the scotch”).
For the most part, the textual world divides itself into two camps. First is the THOU SHALT NOT OMIT THE SERIAL COMMA camp. They feel that its inclusion is necessary in order to stave off potential misunderstandings. Here are variants on some of the usual suspects presented as examples by this camp:
“They invited the strippers, JFK and Stalin.”
“I would like to thank my parents, Buddha and Cap’n Malcolm Reynolds.”
The reasoning here is that the reader could misunderstand the meanings (respectively: “They invited the strippers as well as JFK and Stalin” vs. “They invited the strippers, who happened to be JFK and Stalin” and “My thanks go out to my mother and my father, as well as to Buddha and Cap’n Malcolm Reynolds” vs. “Buddha and Cap’n Tightpants somehow got busy and produced offspring, and I’m here to thank them for that”).
On to camp #2, being the GET THAT USELESS LINGUISTIC APPENDIX OUT OF MY EYE camp. They feel that the comma’s inclusion is not necessary to the reader’s comprehension (“Dude, if you can’t tell from context that the strippers aren’t two dead world leaders, you’ve got some serious drug problems” and “Seriously? Cap’n Mal has the hots only for Inara”); they also feel that it runs counter to consistency (i.e., if “I saw Burt and Earl” doesn’t have a comma, why then should “I saw Ralph, Burt and Earl” slap one in there?).
There’s a third, smaller camp, the CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? camp. They feel that you don’t have to use the serial comma, but it’s a good idea to use it in the fraction of cases where it would help avoid confusion. These campers are obviously insane and need to be shut away from right-thinking NORMAL people, or so the two big camps would have us believe.
Which is the right camp? Who has the strongest argument?
… wait for it…
… patience, padawan…
… The right camp is the one that signs your paycheck. If you’re writing something for which any approval you want (financial or otherwise) comes from someone who may choose whether or not to pay you based on your conformity to their preferred style, DO WHAT THEY WANT. Outside of that, you’re free to choose to serial-comma your brains out, or you may choose to frolic freely, totally naked of all extraneous commas—that’s your call.
NB: I can’t leave this without pointing to the wonderful Mignon Fogarty, the brilliant mind behind the “Grammar Girl” advice blog. She comes down somewhat in the camp of All Serial, All The Time for the simple reason of… well, it’s easier; you never have to figure out things in potentially ambiguous or vague wordings. But she also points out that even the serial comma is not the cure to all ills. In the end, she confirms that it’s a style choice; i.e., listen to the person who’s going to sign your paycheck. Read it for yourself: Quick and Dirty Tips ™