A pedant in Parliament

"Jacob Rees-Mogg, New U.K. Minister, Greets Staff With an Imperial Edict": https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/world/europe/jacob-rees-mogg-rules.html

Also https://www.itv.com/news/2019-07-26/itv-news-exclusive-jacob-rees-mogg-issues-st...

If he's a pedant I don't want to be one :(

>2 ScarletBea:

Are all pedants the same?

>1 lilithcat: and as is almost a requirement when making grammatical pronouncements he then makes an error of his own - the oxford comma goes before the 'and'

He has also used his 'banned' words more than 700 times in his own parliamentary comments. Hansard lists all debates, and some diligent soul has trawled them.

>4 reading_fox:

the oxford comma goes before the 'and'

As I understand it, he's not objecting to the oxford (Oxford?) comma, he's objecting to people who do, in fact, put the comma after the "and".

You are correct, though, that he has violated his own rules many times.

>4 reading_fox:: When Hansard lists all debates who decides the punctuation and where the Oxford comma goes?

I think his rules here are pretty stupid, as does Benjamin Dreyer, but in some ways I quite like the man. A lot more honest than many MPs and open about his beliefs on issues such as abortion which he knows will not go down well with many.

>3 suitable1: Ooh, very well-played. Possibly the most amusing post I've seen here. Well, leaving aside of those posts from Illinois State Fair, but those weren't meant to be funny.

OP link has me rolling my eyes rather than feeling indignant: Rees-Mogg's strictures are surely born of affectation, not reason.

Re making grammatical pronouncements and making the same errors yourself ... I believe that's muphry's {sic} law.

(Pardon the curly braces, I just didn't want the system to try and apply a touchstone.)