Grammar's great divide: The Oxford comma - TED-Ed

Velika gramatička podela - oksfordski zarez - TED-Ed

Prevodilac: Anja Saric Lektor: Mile Živković

Say you're helping plan a friend's party,

Recimo da pomažete prijatelju da isplanira zabavu,

and he sends you a text

i on vam pošalje poruku:

asking you to "bring Bob, a DJ and a clown."

"povedi Boba, didžeja i klovna."

Veoma ste impresionirani.

You're pretty impressed.

Niste imali pojma da je Bob tako multitalentovan.

You had no idea Bob was so multitalented.

But when the day arrives,

Međutim kada dođe dan zabave,

it turns out that he's not,

ispostavi se da nije,

and you were supposed to bring three different people.

i da je trebalo da povedete troje ljudi.

As you and Bob sit at the silent, clownless party,

Dok sedite sa Bobom na tihoj zabavi bez klovna

it occurs to you that the confusion could've been avoided

shvatite da je zabuna mogla biti izbegnuta

simply by using another comma after DJ.

jednostavnom upotrebom još jednog zareza posle didžeja.

This final comma in a list,

Ovaj poslednji zarez u listi

placed directly before the main conjunction,

stavljen direktno ispred glavnog veznika,

such as and, or, or nor,

kao što je "i" ili "ili",

is called the serial comma,

zove se serijski zarez,

or Oxford comma.

ili oksfordski zarez.

And it has long driven grammar nerds crazy

I gramatičke štrebere već duže vreme dovodi do ludila

because even major language institutions

jer ni najveće jezičke institucije

can't agree on whether it should be used.

ne mogu da se slože oko njegovog korišćenja.

Ironically, the Oxford comma

Ironično, oksfordski zarez

is more common in the United States,

mnogo je češći u Sjedinjenim Državama,

where it's recommended by

gde se preporučuje od strane

the MLA, the Chicago Style Manual,

MLA i upustva za Čikago stil,

and the US Government Printing Office,

i Štamparske kancelarije vlade Sjedinjenih Država

though not by the AP Style Book.

ali ne i AP stilske knjige.

In the UK and other English-speaking countries,

U Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu i ostalom engleskom govornom području,

most style guides do not support the comma's use,

većina vodiča ne podržava upotrebu zareza

with the exception of its namesake,

osim njegovog imenjaka

the Oxford University Press.

Univerzitetske štamparije Oksforda.

Why not use the serial comma?

Zašto ne koristiti serijski zarez?

One of the main arguments

Jedan od glavnih argumenata

is that the conjunction is usually enough

je da je veznik uglavnom dovoljan

to denote a separate entity.

da označi zaseban entitet.

And where it's not,

A gde nije,

like in your ill-fated invite list,

kao na vašoj nesuđenoj listi gostiju,

changing the order of terms will usually do the job.

uglavnom je dovoljno promeniti red reči.

Journalists also dislike the comma

Ni novinari ne vole zarez

because it takes up precious space

jer im oduzima dragoceni prostor

and can make text look cluttered.

i može da načini tekst prenatrpanim.

Sometimes, it can even create confusion of its own.

Ponekad i sam može da izazove zbrku.

For example,

Na primer,

if your friend had asked for "Bob,

da je vaš prijatelj tražio

a DJ and a puppy,"

"Boba, didžeja i kuče",

you'd probably figure out

verovatno biste shvatili

that they're three separate beings.

da su oni tri različita bića.

Puppies are cute,

Kučići su slatki,

but they don't make great DJs.

ali nisu baš sjajni didžejevi.

With the comma,

Sa zarezom,

you may think

možda bste pomislili,

Bob is the DJ,

Bob je didžej,

and all you need is him and the puppy.

i sve što vam je potrebno je on i kuče.

The argument over the Oxford comma

Rasprava oko oksfordskog zareza

has raised such strong passions over the years

uzburkala je strasti tokom godina

that a sort of truce has been reached.

tako da je doneto nešto nalik primirju.

The common wisdom is that

Opšta mudrost je

its use is optional,

da je upotreba opcionalna

and depends on whether it will help

i zavisi od toga da li pomaže

to avoid confusion.

da se izbegne zabuna.

For one thing,

Jedno je sigurno,

you're supposed to keep your use or avoidance

treba ostati dosledan svojoj upotrebi ili neupotrebi

of the Oxford comma

oksfordskog zareza

consistent throughout a whole piece of writing.

kroz ceo tekst.

So, using it only where necessary

Dakle, upotreba samo u neophodnim situacijama

is not an option.

nije opcija.

And the very idea

I sama ideja

of a grammatical rule being optional

da je gramatičko pravilo opcionalno

is a bit odd.

malo je čudna.

Imagine that you hadn't messed up the party planning,

Zamislite da niste zabrljali u planiranju zabave,

and read the next day that "everyone had a great time -

i da sledećeg dana čitate: "svi su se sjajno proveli -

ninjas, pirates, vikings, old and young."

nindže, pirati, vikinzi, stari i mladi".

If the Oxford comma were standard,

Da je oksfordski zarez obavezan,

you would notice it missing

primetili biste da nedostaje

and conclude that old and young

i zaključili da se stari i mladi

must describe the awesome guests already listed.

odnosi na fenomenalne goste koji su izlistani.

But as things stand,

Ali kako stvari stoje,

you will always wonder

uvek ćete se pitati

whether it means

da li to znači

that a bunch of regular, boring kids and old people

da se pojavila i gomila obične, dosadne dece

showed up as well.

i starih ljudi.

Serijski zarez može biti koristan ili dosadan,

Ultimately, the serial comma may be useful or annoying,

but your opinion on it,

ali vaš izbor,

as for many optional things,

kao i sa mnogim izbornim stvarima,

probably has something to do

verovatno ima veze

with whichever style you were raised on.

sa kojim ste stilom odgajani.

Vaša nastavnica u srednjoj školi ga je koristila?

Your high school teachers favored it?

Velika je verovatnoća da ga i dalje koristite.

It's likely you're still using it.

Your first editor hated it?

Vaš prvi urednik ga je mrzeo?

You probably do, too.

Verovatno ga i vi mrzite.

A možda je i toliko cepidlačenje

And maybe so much hairsplitting

oko malene škrabotine na papiru

over a tiny squiggle on a page

is a bit silly.

pomalo luckasto.

After all,

Na kraju krajeva,

there are so many bigger problems

postoji toliko većih problema

to worry about.

But sometimes, little things can make a big difference.

o kojima treba brinuti.

Ali ponekad male stvari mogu napraviti veliku razliku.