TheOverAnalyzed

I remember when tomatoes weren’t a fruit.

I also remember when cursive was important.

I can even remember when it was customary to place two spaces following the punctuation of a sentence.

What I can’t seem to remember is when exactly Oxford (serial) commas became uncool.

I don’t think it was when the Associated Press published their Stylebook discouraging their use “before the conjunction in a simple series.”

It might have happened when young designers decided that all punctuation was out, and said design trends trickled down to the masses.^[1]

That said, what’s even less clear than when Oxford commas fell out of preference is where they came from in the first place.

Vox has some thoughts: