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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Criminal Sentence 555: Weird Library

I wonder if they have a dictionary at this "Experess" library...

4 comments:

Destiny said...

I think even the use of 'including' is wrong, as library is - needless to say - for and of books! What do you say?

The Sentence Sleuth said...

"Include" means you're mentioning some of a list, but not the complete list. I suppose that magazines aren't listed, so it might be technically correct as is.

Westley said...

There are two places where a comma might belong before an 'and': one in the collection list and one in the computers list.

I would definitely put one before the 'and' in the collections list but not in the computers list.

My explanation: The collections list seems to be very parallel; all items are phrased the same and have the same level of importance.
BUT in the computers list, the last item is a compound item consisting of BOTH Mitchell's and 'other' databases, so I wouldn't separate them with a comma. Does that make any sense??

(Think of a list of sandwiches: ham, turkey, cheese, and peanut butter and jelly. Comma after cheese, but not separating pb&j.)

The Sentence Sleuth said...

The serial comma is actually optional. It is a style, not a rule. Just be consistent is my rule.