‘Thing one, thing two, and thing three’: King County Council votes unanimously for Oxford comma

The King County Council voted unanimously for the Oxford comma on Tuesday.

The motion was sponsored by Councilmembers Joe McDermott and Jeanne Kohl-Welles.

A bit of Twitter drama ensued after the vote, with one person commenting a popcorn GIF in response to a tweet from McDermott.

It started when Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal disagreed with the vote and tweeted, “A moment of enormous disagreement between me and the County Council!! As a Lit major, have never been a fan of Oxford comma as a rule. Use as needed for clarity. Otherwise, it’s putting a giant unnecessary dam in & stopping stream of literary flow.”

McDermott quoted the tweet and said, “My Member of Congress & I agree on so much, but @RepJayapal is standing in the way of consistency & clarity. As my remarks in the article suggest, her reputation could be on the line. I stand with the Oxford Comma. (And am honored to have her sister @SusheelaJayapal‘s support!)”

Kohl-Welles then quoted McDermott’s tweet and said, “I find @RepJayapal‘s disagreement with the @KCCouncil‘s unanimous approval of using the Oxford Comma unfortunate. Sponsored by @JoeMcDermottWA and me and requested by our code reviser, its usage is sensible, clear, and consistent.”

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