Swimming Pool Rules

[CajunCenturion]

The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running or rowdy, excessive horseplay.

How many different types of commas are being used?
Are they being used correctly?
Is the Oxford comma included?
Should the Oxford comma be included?
What happens if you do include the Oxford comma?
What might be better wording and punctuation?

Good Luck
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[Dimandja]

Rephrasing:

The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running, or rowdy, excessive horseplay.

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[RCorrigan]

?? Do they get marks off for not mentioning "Bombing" & "Petting" ??

[Apologies up front ]


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[SQLSister]

My reword:
The pool club does not allow fun.

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[strongm]

>Is the Oxford comma included?

Nope

>Should the Oxford comma be included?

Usage or non-usage of the Oxford comma is predominantly a matter of style rather than of correctness. Being British I would hardly ever use it except where its use would clearly remove ambiguity. In this case there is no ambiguity, so I personally wouldn't include one.

>What happens if you do include the Oxford comma?

It makes those people who like, or have been taught to use the Oxford comma, happier. It neither adds or removes anything from the sentence.

>What might be better wording and punctuation?

Frankly, it looks fine to me.

 

[SF0751]

I would rephrase the sentence as: "The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running[red],[/red] or rowdy [red]and[/red] excessive horseplay."

(I like using the Oxford comma.)

Although SQLSister's reword is also accurate.

Susan
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." - Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

An alternative might be:-

The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running or excessively rowdy horseplay.

They could also add:-

Members disregarding these rules will be chased down and thrown into the shallow end of the pool.

& all the best.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

strongm,

I disagree with &quot;It neither adds or removes anything from the sentence&quot; in reference to the Oxford comma.

The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running or rowdy, excessive horseplay.

How many different types of commas are being used?
I'm not sure.

Are they being used correctly?
Because the sentence is awkward, I'll say no. But I won't be surprised if CC corrects me.

Is the Oxford comma included?
No.

Should the Oxford comma be included?
No.

What happens if you do include the Oxford comma?
The sentence looks like this:
&quot;The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running, or rowdy, excessive horseplay.&quot;

with a comma after 'running'. The sentence becomes much less clear in meaning.

What might be better wording and punctuation?
I like SQLSister's take on it, but I think the most clear way would be
The following are not allowed at the pool club:
Diving
Splashing
Running
Rowdy, excessive horseplay
or, if think using a list is cheating,
The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running or rowdy and excessive horseplay.
or even
Diving, splashing and running are not allowed at the pool club. Neither is rowdy, excessive horseplay.

[tt]-John[/tt]
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[ToniL]

Why is "rowdy" even included? It seems to me that the sentence would convey the same meaning if "rowdy" were not included at all... My sentence would read: "The pool club does not allow diving, splashing, running, or excessive horseplay." That's just my opinion...

Peace,
Toni L.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I believe what they are saying is that "rowdy horseplay" is expected & acceptable, but "excessively rowdy horseplay" is not.

& all the best.

 

[Stella740pl]

I believe what they are saying is that "rowdy horseplay" is expected & acceptable, but "excessively rowdy horseplay" is not.

Don't think so. Then it should be "excessively rowdy horseplay" instead of "rowdy, excessive horseplay". They used "rowdy" and "excessive" as synonyms.

 

[strongm]

Given that horseplay is by definition rowdy...

 

[CajunCenturion]

==> How many different types of commas are being used?
I recogonize two comma types, the item in a series comma and the coordinating adjective comma.

==> Are they being used correctly?
As far as I can tell, yes, they are both being used properly.

However, I do think the sentence is awkward because of the intermix of the two comma types.

Good Luck
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[Mr3Putt]

==>Should the Oxford comma be included?
IMO (therefore wrongly) is definitely should be included. To use the list-style example mentioned earlier, without the Oxford comma, the list becomes:

Diving
Splashing
Running or Rowdy
Exessive Horseplay

While grammatically it may be arguable, I believe there can be no argument that the Oxford comma delimits the sentence much more clearly.

Our pool club concentrates more severely on the rules of "Quiet, please" and "No Masse;".

[red]Note:[/red] [gray]The above comments are the opinionated ravings of Mr3Putt. As such, Mr3Putt accepts no responsibility for damages, real or contrived, resulting from acceptance of his opinions as fact.[/gray]

 

[Genimuse]

I'm a big serial comma fan, so of course I'm all for adding one, and think they make every list more clear.

 

[strongm]

> I believe there can be no argument

There can be

 

[hotfusion]

Brace yourselves, I'm about to cast my ignorance upon the pavement for all to see....

Ahem...
What, exactly, is an Oxford comma? I've not heard of that one before.
Anyone care to enlighten me? Please??

Regards, Andy.
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[CajunCenturion]

The Oxford comma, sometimes called a serial comma, is the comma between the second to last item and the conjunction before the last item in a series.

We went to the store and bought A, B[red],[/red] and C.
We went to the store and bought A, B and C.

The comma after B (in red) is the Oxford comma, and its use is optional.

Good Luck
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[SF0751]

From Wikipedia

The use of a comma before the word "and" in a list of more than two things is called the serial comma or Oxford comma:

"We had tea, biscuits, and cake."

It is so named because its usage is recommended in the style guide of the Oxford University Press.



Susan
"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." - Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894)

 

[tsdragon]

I'll admit that I had never heard of the Oxford comma either, but I gathered from the context of the threads what it was.

I couldn't really tell you whether I use one regularly or not, which means I probably use it only when I feel like it.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.