The United Kingdom officially left the European Union January the 31st, three-and-a-half years the British people voted to leave. The U.K. government issued a special coin to mark the occasion. However, the coin is the centre of an argument punctuation. The new 50-pence coin became available yesterday. It has the words: "Peace, prosperity and friendship all nations" its reverse side. A famous British writer, Sir Philip Pullman, is unhappy the punctuation. He believes the phrase is incorrectly punctuated. Mr Pullman said there should be a comma the word "prosperity". Such a comma is called an Oxford comma. He said the coin, "should be boycotted all literate people".
The Oxford comma gets its name the Oxford University Press, which makes common use the punctuation mark. the USA, it is called the serial comma. It is used before the final "and" or "or" in a written list three or more items. Many people say there is no need an Oxford comma the phrase the 50-pence coin because the meaning is very clear. Word expert Susie Dent said the Oxford comma is useful if it makes it easier to understand the writer's meaning. A U.K. citizen said the comma issue wasn't important. She tweeted: "It doesn't matter if there is a comma or not the 50p coin. The most important thing is that there is peace, and prosperity, and friendship all nations."
