Oxford comma

In English, there is a remarkable punctuation mark: the Oxford comma (or serial comma). This is a special kind of comma, which is put before the union „and“ between the homogeneous members of the sentence, that is, where it should not be.

Let’s take the sentence:

In the war against nazi Germany participated England, the United States and the USSR.

The written is understood literally: three countries fought against Germany, nothing is said about the degree of their participation. But if we put the Oxford comma, the meaning of the sentence changes dramatically:

In the war against nazi Germany participated England, the United States, and the USSR.

Now the participation of the USSR in the war is allocated in a special way, separated from England and the United States. And just a comma was put, not a word was added! One more example:

He bought delicious cheese, jamon, steak and water.

In this sentence, the word „tasty“ can refer either to cheese only, or to cheese, ham, and steak in general. Water can hardly be tasty, therefore it is excluded from the subject. In addition, the word „water“ of the feminine gender, and the adjective „tasty“ is used in the masculine — the typical problem of such constructions in the Russian language. If you use the Oxford comma, both problems disappear. Water is now separated from other products:

He bought a delicious cheese, jamon, steak, and water.

Finally, the third example, the most illustrative:

I dedicate this book to my parents, Steve Jobs and God.

Without Oxford comma, it turns out that the author's parents are Steve Jobs and God. To get rid of ambiguity, you can use the union „as well“. But it is much more interesting to do the following:

I dedicate this book to my parents, Steve Jobs, and God.

Oxford comma could and should be used in Russian.