In March 2017, milk truck drivers for Oakhurst Dairy in Portland, Maine, won the appeal of a suit they had filed. They claimed that they were owed years of overtime pay, and to prove what constituted overtime, they cited the following wording:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: (1) Agricultural produce; (2) Meat and fish products; and (3) Perishable foods.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spotlight was on the phrase \u201cpacking for shipment or distribution of.\u201d If the serial comma had been inserted after the word \u201cshipment,\u201d then \u201cpacking for shipment\u201d would be distinguished from \u201cdistribution.\u201d However, without the comma, \u201cpacking\u201d and \u201cdistribution\u201d were lumped together as a single work activity. The truck drivers asserted that they were not involved in packing, only distribution, and therefore the exemption from overtime did not apply. They claimed that they were owed overtime pay for the previous four years. The judge for the case, David J. Barron, saw the ambiguity in the wording and ruled that the Oakhurst Dairy had to relinquish ten million dollars to the drivers.<\/p>\n
The Purpose of Punctuation<\/h2>\n
Academic writers might wonder, \u201cWhat is the essential purpose of punctuation?\u201d Section 6.1 of The Chicago Manual of Style<\/em> offers this: \u201cTo promote ease of reading by clarifying relationships within and between sentences.\u201d<\/p>\n Communication between people, whether written or spoken, can be difficult enough, especially when it crosses geographies, industries, ages, or cultures. Making careful decisions about punctuation helps in clarifying thoughts and ideas.<\/p>\n As an example of this issue, consider the sentence \u201cWe loved the cream sauce over rice, asparagus and macaroons with caramel.\u201d Without the serial comma after \u201casparagus,\u201d the reader is led to believe that all the foods listed\u2014rice, asparagus, and macaroons with caramel\u2014were covered with cream sauce. However, with the comma present, it is clear that rice, asparagus, and macaroons are separate items and that \u201ccream sauce\u201d applies only to \u201crice.\u201d<\/p>\n Editorial enthusiasts often complain that the word grammar is sometimes used to refer to all aspects of written communication\u2014that is, spelling, grammar, and punctuation combined as one package. In the title of an article on the Oakhurst Dairy, we read, \u201cGrammarians rejoice in the $10 million\u00a0comma,\u201d and a writer for The New Yorker<\/em> calls the case \u201ca feast of subtle delights for anyone with a taste for grammar.\u201d It is important to remember how grammar and punctuation<\/a> are discrete aspects of writing. The Chicago Manual of Style<\/em> devotes an entire chapter of 100 pages to grammar and follows it with a 50-page chapter on punctuation. Spelling and grammar create the foundation of the sentence; punctuation provides the final, but vital, touches of clarity.<\/p>\n Returning to the infamous Oakhurst Dairy case, The Maine Legislative Drafting Manual states that commas are probably the most misused and misunderstood punctuation marks in legal drafting and, perhaps, the English language. Use them thoughtfully and sparingly.\u201d Punctuations serve a critical purpose in communications. Attorneys, educators, and historians will speak of the Oakhurst Dairy and the \u201cten-million-dollar comma\u201d for years to come. At the same time, writers will take care to ensure that their work does not include the punctuation faux pas that goes viral on the Internet or ignites an expensive and notorious lawsuit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/p>\nGrammar vs. Punctuation<\/h2>\n
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