A Snarl of Serial Commas - 24 June 2009

Are serial commas always necessary? An English teacher says she was surprised to learn that she and her husband, who's also an English teacher, are giving their students conflicting advice.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>Get your language question answered on the air! Call or write with your questions at any time:<br/><br/>Email: words@waywordradio.org<br/><br/>Phone: <br/>United States toll-free (877) WAY-WORD/(877) 929-9673<br/>London +44 20 7193 2113<br/>Mexico City +52 55 8421 9771<br/><br/>Site: http://waywordradio.org.<br/>Podcast: http://waywordradio.org/podcast/<br/>Forums: http://waywordradio.org/discussion/<br/>Newsletter: http://waywordradio.org/newsletter/<br/>Twitter: http://twitter.com/wayword/<br/>Skype: skype://waywordradio <br/><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?i=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:63t7Ie-LG7Y"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/awwwpodcast?d=63t7Ie-LG7Y" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.waywordradio.org/~ff/awwwpodcast?a=0_rlEh7w_Ew:ghACRPrsRQM:l6gmwiTKsz0"><im