lists

[Anonymous]

My sister and I had a discussion about lists. I said that a comma would be inbtween each word until the last two words and you would not put a comma when you add the words "and" or "or" etc...

She says that a list would be written like this....
Tom, Dick, Susan, and Harry!

I say it whould be written like this......
Tom, Dick, Susan and Harry!

Which one of us would you say is correct?

[Rusty]

My sister and I had a discussion about lists. I said that a comma would be in between each word until the last two words and you would not put a comma when you add the words "and" or "or" etc...

She says that a list would be written like this....
Tom, Dick, Susan, and Harry!

I say it should be written like this......
Tom, Dick, Susan and Harry!

Which one of us would you say is correct?
You are both right. Some books of grammar and composition put a comma before and and some books do not. It seems to be optional.