A Short Defense of the Tillman Comma

 

 

In a list of nouns or adjectives following a colon, the rule is to separate the elements of the list with commas.

However, where a series of parallel phrases follows a colon, the rule is to separate the elements of the list with semi-colons. The semicolon is a particularly good choice if one or more elements of the list already have internal commas.

The problem with the latter rule, i.e., using semicolons to separate elements of the list, is that the last element of the list is preceded by an “and.” The “and” in the last element breaks the parallel structure across the list’s elements.

Therefore, my suggested practice is to use a semicolon prior to the “and” and to use a comma following the “and.”

Eg:

My car uses: high beam lights for seeing into the distance; low beam lights for driving at night; and, running lights for day-time driving.

Eg:

My car uses: [i] high beam headlights for seeing into the distance; [ii] low beam headlights for driving at night; and, [iii] running lights for daytime driving.

The [i], [ii], and [iii] also facilitate clarifying the sentence’s parallel structure.

 

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘A Short Defense of the Tillman Comma,’ New Reform Club (Dec. 27, 2023, 4:20 PM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-brief-defense-of-tillman-comma.html>;