On May 5, 10:33pm, Andrew Brown wrote:
>>I dedicate this book to my parents, Ayn Rand and God.
>i think this is a bit ambiguous either way.  to add the comma would
>make it:
>	I dedicate this book to my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.

Were it me, I'd remove the ambiguity by writing:

   I dedicate this book to my parents, to Ayn Rand, and to God.

The way I was taught, some 40 years ago, that a simple list does not
need the comma before the last 'and', but one should be put in where
one would like a pause.  A simple list:

  Go to the store, please, and get me some apples, oranges and pears.

But then, as someone else wrote, styles change.  This is one of those
things that appears to be in flux, with no "right" way, and the best
thing to do would probably be to put the choices on a dart board and
throw a dart or three to select one. ;-)

Steve


-- 
Steve Allen - wormey@eskimo.com   http://www.eskimo.com/~wormey/   ICQ 6709819

Faith is the quality that enables you to eat blackberry jam on a picnic
without looking to see whether the seeds move.

Contrary to popular belief, Unix is user friendly.  
It just happens to be selective about who it makes friends with.
	-Kyle Hearn  <kyle@intex.net>

A student who changes the course of history is probably taking an
exam.