Why we like the Oxford Comma

[ricardienne]

From C. R. Whittaker, "The Revolt of Papirius Dionysius A.D. 190-1", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte
Vol. 13, No. 3 (Jul., 1964), pp. 348-369:

L. Antistius Burrus was even more notably connected, being married to the daughter of Marcus, Vibia Aurelia Sabina, an amicus of Marcus himself and consul in A.D. 181.

(I know I know: Latin endings and that fact that we know a woman couldn't become consul save us from the ambiguity: it's still a terribly unclear sentence!)

Comments

[achyvi.livejournal.com]

Word to the Oxford Comma!

[ricardienne.livejournal.com]

it's amazing how badly scholars can write, sometimes. Another great garden path sentence (// where the meaning finally gets clarified):

"Proper sexual activity, Dio implies, occurs within a proper and productive relationship between man and woman, and Musonius Rufus, the Stoic philosopher who probably influenced Dio,// states this explicitly."