I don't know if you all have seen people oohing and ahhing about the oxford or series comma in dating profiles, but I'm a bit sick of it. It's boring, overused, and at best just indicates that you are the sort of person to judge another by their grammar preferences.

So why is it in so many dating profiles? I certainly don't think our collective 7th grade english teachers instilled a deep love for punctuation in our 13 year old minds and souls.

My theory is that there were some clever, yet boring, people writing their lists: "My favorite things are traveling, netflix, and ______". Unable to complete their rule-of-three they being to search. Their eye catches something! It's the oxford comma in their uncompleted list. This is cheeky, this is funny, lets add it to the list.

People love this, and either come to the joke on their own or borrow it from other profile. It spreads like wildfire, but the uninitiated begin to think that liking the oxford comma is a normal and regular thing to do. Liking the oxford comma is something that educated people would do, it is a signal of class and if everyone else likes it then I too must profess a love.

And then there is the now. I see profiles on Hinge. The prompt "Let's make sure we're on the same page about," the response "the oxford comma." I see tinder profiles. "About me: -BLM -Astrology emojis -Crazy about bubble tea -Oxford comma enthusiast"

:angery:

  • melon_popsicle [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I guess I didn't make it super clear, but my main complaint here is that I'm seeing people talk about the oxford comma in their dating profiles outside of the joke that is the self referential list.

    I've seen 3 profiles in the past 2-3 days where an answer to a prompt like "We'll get along if..." and their answer is "you use the oxford comma." It just sort of signals how bad and lazy people can be at writing bios, but I guess it isn't all bad because it becomes a quick filter.