This morning I was greeted by Twitter with a multitude of tweets proclaiming that the infamous Oxford comma was officially dead and the University itself held the smoking gun. As a long-time user of the proper comma, I felt my little former English major’s heart lurch just a bit. I was even inspired to post the following Tweet:

Goodbye Oxford comma. How I loved thee. Let me count the ways: one, two, three, four and five…

I thought it was clever, anyway.

But, it turns out that the Twitterverse may have jumped the gun just a tiny bit.  According to this story from the Associated Press, the cited change in style is from an internal University guide used only for press releases and branding. In fact, this practice has been in place for several years within the hallowed halls. The general style guides (aka New Hart’s Rules) still maintain that its use is proper and more clear.

Of course, that Oxford’s press releases don’t follow Oxford style is a bit weird, but okay.

I’ve been a fan of the Oxford comma sense before I had heard the term. I was instructed in its use when I was a wee geek and continue, adamantly, in its use today. I’d probably be considered a punctuation snob if not for the fact that I keep my predilections to myself.  

Of course, I still use two spaces after the period when typing a sentence. Chalk that one up to learning to type on an electric typewriter. What can I say? I’m a creature of habit and training. I’ll try to work on the space thing, but when it comes to commas…

As for me and my house, we will use the Oxford…

BTW: A gold-star and an atta-boy/girl/undecided for anyone that can complete the title quote…