Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Company Millions in Overtime Dispute

Re: Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Company Millions i... by rayiner on Friday March 17, 2017 @03:30PM (#13897195)

Using a programming language would avoid the scenario where there is more than one valid way to parse the same text. Usually, that's not the problem, though. Often times, the problem is that the correct parse is not the one people intended. Programming languages suffer from that too: http://lucumr.pocoo.org/2011/2/6/automatic-semicolon-inserti.... And even more commonly, the problem is ambiguity in semantics rather than ambiguity in syntax. What is a "fish product," for example?

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Re: Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Company Millions i... by tropo on Friday March 17, 2017 @07:10PM (#13898753)

fish product:

1. the result of multiplying fishes, as done by Jesus

2. a type of multiplication indicated by the fish symbol (see also: dot product, cross product)

3. a product intended for use by fish

4. the yearly economic value produced by fish (see also: gross national product)

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Re: Lack of Oxford Comma Could Cost Maine Company Millions i... by hawkice on Saturday March 18, 2017 @02:37AM (#13900209)

Or a product made from fish (you may have a category, sales of fish and fish products). Or a product made by the fishes themselves, like corals are a product of marine life more generally.

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