Do AE and BE sometimes overlapping?

Getting back to the point, the only problem I have with the differences at the moment with BrE & AmE is that a comma should, in BrE, be used inplace of "and" when listing, where a natural sentence break occurs, or prior to a non-joining conjunction, (such as, or, or, but) to so construct a neater sounding sentence. However in AmE they put a comma before the final "and" which doesn't seem to make much sense, when the use of the comma is instead of "and". It only happens in written forms, but it does look very strange and Weird.

i.e.

There were rabbits and guinea-pigs for sale in the pet shop.

There were rabbits, and guinea-pigs for sale in the pet-store.


What do others feel about this???

<<However in AmE they put a comma before the final "and" which doesn't seem to make much sense

There were rabbits, and guinea-pigs for sale in the pet-store. >>


You're right, it doesn't make sense -- because we actually DO NOT do this in the US. We would say "There are rabbits and guinea pigs for sale in the pet store." We only use a comma if MORE than two things are listed --

There were rabbits, hamsters, and guinea pigs for sale in the pet store.

The comma is standing in for the "and" between rabbits and hamsters, and standing in for the natural pause after hamsters.

Nosey, what you are talking about is not American. It's called an Oxford comma. The reason commas are used at all is for clarity and that is the purpose of the Oxford comma. It is particular useful when writing a list whose entries are themselves lists, for example:

'The shop sold strawberry and banana, chocolate and vanilla, and mango and passion fruit flavoured smoothies.'

It can also be used in any list (but probably only those with more than two items). Personally, I only use it when I think the extra clarity is useful. So I would use it in the above example, but not in the one you gave. That choice is a matter of style, but not one particularly related to country.

Apparently it was commonly used at Oxford University Press, which is where it gets its name.