Why Writing Matters: A Comma Worth $15 Million

 

When pursuing an education, and ultimately a career, in the STEM and business fields, you may consider courses in the humanities a necessary evil – a degree requirement that you suffer through to get to the “fun” courses. 

However, you can have the strongest technical skills and find yourself facing problems at work. The inability to communicate clearly, effectively, and correctly could result in everything from a minor reprimand to a massive legal battle.

In 2018, a dairy in Maine was forced to pay $5 million to truck drivers over the lack of an Oxford comma in a state law. The Oxford comma is the final comma listed before an “and” in a list of items – as in “this, that, and the other thing.”

As reported by Daniel Victor for The New York Times, the law requires time-and-a-half pay for overtime above 40 hours, with certain exceptions, including, “The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of:

(1) Agricultural produce;

(2) Meat and fish products; and

(3) Perishable foods.”

The concern comes in the end of the descriptive statement, “packing for shipment or distribution of.” 

According to Victor, “The court ruled that it was not clear whether the law exempted the distribution of the three categories that followed, or if it exempted packing for the shipment or distribution of them.” As a result, the dairy was required to pay the overtime in question.

The law has since been updated with additional punctuation to make it clear in exactly what scenarios the exception applies. 

Suzanne Gut, associate professor English and Communication at Davenport University, has spent years researching the importance of humanities in education and is pursuing her PhD in the field of computer-mediated discourse. 

“My favorite response from my students is, ‘You know what I mean,’” says Gut. “But do I? There’s a big difference between ‘put the medicine on’ and ‘put the medicine in.’ I need the same clarity at my business.”

Gut shares that across academia, it used to be that the university systems dictated what was necessary in education. This has changed so that academia is now being more influenced by the corporate world – dictating what has become important in education.

“The research end of things is important, but we can’t forget that we’re communicating to humans that need to understand what we’re trying to say,” says Gut. “You can’t say, ‘What does it matter? It’s just a comma?’”

Science, math, and technology are really important, Gut emphasizes, but it’s equally important that information shared in those areas is understandable and usable.

“For me, this is the crux of communicating well. Have you considered your audience and what they’re going to do with the information? When the medical community writes something and gives technical information on giving medicine to a baby, it might make sense to the writer but not the new mom working on two hours of sleep.”

The risk, in that scenario, could be deadly. Though an extreme example, incorrect information in a system design document, a presentation that contains a vague language regarding the meaning of a chart, or a manual with inaccurate steps can all result in additional money spent, time wasted, and even potential job loss. 

“Understanding people matter should always be at the forefront of our research and education. When we stop focusing on that, we lose our humanity.”

The next time you think the paper you are writing doesn’t matter or that you don’t need to dedicate extra time to ensuring it’s accurate – remember that a comma could cost you, or your future company, millions of dollars, or far worse.