Attorneys deal with laws for a living. Bureaucrats work with regulations. Restaurateurs contend with heat, spice and the irregularity of natural ingredients. I work with words and, occasionally, ...

This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today. Maria Kari is a freelance writer and ...

DEAR RICHARD: The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is the comma used before the conjunction in a list of three or more items. For example: “I like to eat apples, bananas, and oranges.” I ...

Yesterday, Mediabistro's GalleyCat ran a post that made it seem like Oxford University Press was dropping the use of its eponymous comma, also known as the serial comma. The story took off and became ...

When you're writing or typing and begin to list items in consecutive order, do you add a comma prior to the conjunction before the final item? Or not? The inclusion of that final comma is a great ...

A Variety headline posted on social media drew some laughs recently. “Trammell Tillman on ‘Severance’ Delays, Coming Out as Gay and Tom Cruise.” “He’s gay AND Tom Cruise?” one observer mused. “He ...

There isn’t much that leaves me gobsmacked. Chalk it up to nearly seven decades of observing my fellow humans, particularly the last decade or so — especially the last week or so — of the increasingly ...