"More Than" I Can Take

After perusing my recent “Less Is More, Or Is It Fewer” post, two astute MaliaMania readers had thought-provoking questions. Both of these guys are really smart, and one is a client who graciously supports the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed, so I decided I’d better come up with some good answers. 

Here’s question No. 1: Will your next post be about using “over” two rolls of toilet paper (TP) a day, versus “more than” two rolls?

My initial reaction was that if the reader has a “two-plus” roll TP habit, grammar and style issues are the least of his problems. Seriously, the question is referring to the fact that AP Style says “more than” is preferred with numbers, while “over” generally should be used with spatial elements. The AP Stylebook gives this example: The company has “more than” 25 employees, but the cow jumped “over” the moon. For those who are truly into this topic, i.e. your cable is out, Grammar Girl has a fun infographic explanation.

 Here’s question No. 2: How do I stand on the Oxford comma? My first thought was that this questioner was referring to some new buttoned-down men’s fashion garment. Then, I realized he was talking about what we journalism students at UNC always called the “serial comma,” most likely because we were still miffed we didn’t get into Oxford.

The Oxford comma, so named because it was traditionally favored by editors at Oxford University Press, is the comma before the word “and” at the end of a list. The  Oxford Dictionaries Blog gives this example:  “a thief, a liar, and a murderer.” Some people fervently argue it should be “a thief, a liar and a murderer” (no comma before the “and”). Allegedly, many U.S. book and magazine publishers are in favor of the Oxford comma, while newspapers are against it, but there’s some crisscrossing in both types of media.  How do I stand? I see both sides, but when push comes to shove, I am prone to slithering into the corner of whoever/whomever has hired me to do the writing in question. Busted!