Yes, it’s true. I’m a huge fan of the serial comma. Guilty as charged.
It’s remarkable to me the power that that tiny little piece of punctuation–also called the “Oxford” or “Harvard” comma–carries. Not only does it have the ability to provide immense clarity, it’s also managed to make itself one of the most highly debated points of English grammar. People tend to either love it or hate it, and most are willing to argue the correctness of their opinion until they are blue in the face. I am one of those people. And now I’m going to present my case in favor of the serial comma.
Take these two sentences, potentially written by an author in her Acknowledgments, as an example: “I’d like to thank my fans, my mother and my husband” and “I’d like to thank my fans, my mother, and my husband.” In the first sentence (the one without the serial comma), the author’s only fans are her mother and her husband. Even if that were true, it’s highly unlikely that any author out there would want to advertise that fact. By contrast, the second sentence (the one with the serial comma) makes it clear that the author is thanking three distinct entities. In this case, as in many others, the serial comma makes a huge difference in meaning.
“But wait!” you might say, “Even if such a sentence were to appear in print, wouldn’t the reader’s common sense dictate the true meaning regardless of whether the serial comma was there?” And you would have a point. But I contend that “just because most readers will probably understand the meaning anyway” is not a valid reason to risk confusing readers. Why leave open the potential for misunderstanding when it can be fixed with a simple comma? After all, sometimes readers might think it’s more fun to interpret things the wrong way: http://i.imgur.com/IBBd2F2.png and http://i.imgur.com/OTJQAeh.jpg.
The truth, though, is that for every style guide or language expert who says using the serial comma is the thing to do, there’s another style guide or language expert out there who will argue the opposite. There is no definite right answer; it really is just a matter of opinion. But I’m hoping that I’ve made some progress in convincing you to use the serial comma in your writing. And who knows? Maybe someday we’ll all agree that using the serial comma is, in fact, the “write” thing to do.