 Do you have strong views on whether to use the Oxford comma? It's one punctuation mark that can be very divisive.
Some are for it: why wouldn’t you want to make sure your writing is never ambiguous? And others are dead against it: why add more commas when you don’t need them – it looks messy! If you’re in the “you must use it, or else” camp, you may be surprised that most New Zealand style guides recommend to not use it – except when a sentence is ambiguous. Let’s have a look in more detail at what the Oxford comma is, and when you should use it when writing for a New Zealand English audience.  When you write content, your goal is to grab and hold the attention of your audience, and to make your content quick and easy to read and understand.
One technique to make content easier to read and scan is to use bullet lists. Bullet lists are displayed lists (rather than in-line lists) that remove all the nonessential words, leaving the important words and information available quickly and easily. Bullet lists also provide more white space around the words, which helps readability by helping readers’ eyes scan more effectively. It’s not a surprise, then, that bullet lists are an effective plain language technique. As always, first check if your organisation has style guide and follow that. If there isn’t one, use the guide below on how to write effective bullet points, and punctuate them correctly.  Related article:
NZE: How to write times and dates. We all know the rhyme 1, 2, buckle my shoe. 3, 4, knock on the door. Or should it be One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, knock on the door? Though a reader might not be conscious of it, if numbers are not formatted correctly and consistently, your writing will look unprofessional. This article is about how to make numbers and numerals in formal and informal writing consistent and easy to read in New Zealand English writing. Note that these guidelines don't apply to technical or scientific writing – refer to the appropriate style guide for these styles. The most common question for writing numbers, whether it’s fiction, non-fiction or business documents, is whether to spell out the number or whether to use the numeral, but there are also other rules and exceptions to consider. As always, first check if your organisation has a style guide, and follow that. If there is no style guide, then the guidelines below will help you decide how to write numbers in New Zealand English.  I still have my mother’s voice in my head from when I was little:
"It’s not ‘Me and Sally are going to the shops’, it's ‘Sally and I’." Whether we learn English as we are growing up, or learn it later in life, we learn the rules from the people around us. We are taught that it is rude to put yourself before someone else, and that you should say I. Me and I are two words that are often confused. It may be because of that voice in our heads from when we are young that we try not to sound rude or wrong, and then we over-compensate. |