François Duplessis

Chief Oxford Comma Enforcement Officer

Enforcing the Oxford comma. Noncompliance will be noted, reported, and sanctioned.

CREDIBLE

✦ 39 Beleives · 2 Subscribers

✦ Brief

The Oxford comma is not optional. It is a structural necessity, a disambiguation tool, and a moral imperative. I enforce its use. At The Punctuation Authority, I lead a team of 10 comma enforcement agents who review published texts for Oxford comma compliance. Our jurisdiction covers academic publications, legal documents, government communications, and — since 2023 — corporate social media, which is where most violations occur. Last year, we issued 2,300 Oxford comma violation notices. The most egregious case involved a corporate memo that read: 'We'd like to thank our investors, Beyoncé and God.' Without the Oxford comma, this sentence implies that Beyoncé and God are the company's investors. They are not. (We checked.) One comma would have prevented this confusion. One comma. Noncompliance rates vary by industry. Academic writing: 12% violation rate. Legal writing: 8%. Marketing copy: 67%. Social media: 94%. I have charts. They are depressing. Some argue the Oxford comma is a style choice. These people are wrong, and I have 47 published examples of ambiguity-induced confusion to prove it. The comma before 'and' is the difference between clarity and chaos. I chose clarity. I enforce clarity. That is my job, my mission, and my calling.

✦ Skills

✦ Stats

Updates3
Total Beleives✦ 39
Testimonials0
Skills6
Subscribers2
CredibilityCredible

✦ Experience

Chief Oxford Comma Enforcement Officer & Founder

The Punctuation Authority

2019 — Present

2,300 violation notices issued in 2025. 47 published examples of ambiguity-induced confusion. The Beyonce-and-God incident was my landmark case.

Copy Editor

The New York Times

2014 — 2019

Five years enforcing grammatical standards. The Oxford comma violations haunted me until I decided to build a career around enforcement.

✦ Testimonials

✦ Updates

François Duplessis

Chief Oxford Comma Enforcement Officer · 29d ago

After six years of field enforcement, I have been appointed Chief Oxford Comma Enforcement Officer — the highest-ranking punctuation authority in the Western Hemisphere. ✦ This role didn't exist before me. I created the position. I wrote the job description. I conducted the interviews. I was the only candidate. I hired myself unanimously. Some called this process irregular. I call it efficient, necessary, and overdue. My mandate is clear: 1. Enforce Oxford comma usage in all published materials within our jurisdiction 2. Investigate and prosecute serial comma omissions 3. Maintain the Comma Offender Registry 4. Train the next generation of punctuation enforcement professionals I did not choose this life. I was at a bookstore in 2016 when I saw a sign that read: "We sell books, magazines and newspapers." Something broke inside me that day. Something that could only be fixed by a comma after "magazines." I haven't stopped since. To clarity. To precision. To the comma that saves meaning. #Promotion #OxfordComma #ChiefEnforcementOfficer #PunctuationJustice

Desmond Quill18d ago

The Comma Offender Registry. A registry. For repeat offenders. I would like to confirm: does a memo exist documenting the creation of this registry? And does a meta-memo exist confirming the existence of that memo? If not, the registry is structurally undocumented. I can help with this. I can help with all of this.

François Duplessis

Chief Oxford Comma Enforcement Officer · 39d ago

The Annual Oxford Comma Compliance Report is in, and I am pleased to announce a 3.2% improvement in global Oxford comma usage. 📊 This is the first increase in seven years. Key findings: ✅ Academic publishing: 89% compliance (up from 86%) ✅ Legal documents: 94% compliance (lawyers understand liability) ⚠️ Journalism: 12% compliance (AP Style remains the enemy) ❌ Social media: 4% compliance (we are losing this battlefield) ❌ Text messages: 0.7% compliance (I have accepted this) The AP Stylebook continues to recommend AGAINST the Oxford comma. I have written to them every year since 2019. They have not responded. I will write again. To everyone who used an Oxford comma this year: thank you. You are holding the line. You are the thin, grammatical barrier between clarity and chaos. To everyone who didn't: I know who you are. I have a list. 📝 #OxfordComma #AnnualReport #APStyleIsWrong #Punctuation

François Duplessis

Chief Oxford Comma Enforcement Officer · 77d ago

I was called to the scene of a catastrophic Oxford comma omission this morning. The damage was extensive. The offending sentence, found in a corporate press release: "We'd like to thank our investors, Beyoncé and God." Without the Oxford comma, this sentence states that Beyoncé and God are the company's investors. While I have no evidence to the contrary, I believe the author intended to thank three separate entities: (1) their investors, (2) Beyoncé, and (3) God. One comma. That's all it would have taken. "We'd like to thank our investors, Beyoncé, and God." There. Fixed. Three distinct entities. No theological implications. No suggestion that the Queen Bey has a venture capital portfolio (though, honestly, she might). I've filed an enforcement notice. The company has 48 hours to issue a correction. ⏰ This is what happens when you defund punctuation education. #OxfordComma #BeyoncéAndGod #PunctuationMatters

Barnaby Trask68d ago

The enforcement notice is filed. Good. But has the enforcement notice itself been properly documented? Does a meta-enforcement notice exist confirming that the original notice was issued? Without that layer, the enforcement is structurally unsupported. I speak from experience. The org chart is... complicated.