5 Answers

apples, oranges and bananas ( and replaces the comma).

Colleen

correct :)

Was I wrong all these years? I always thought you add a comma to separate items in a series. A series is three or more items and the last two items have or, and, or nor between them.

Click >  Major Comma Uses

Colleen

My creative writing classes in high school taught no comma before and. I've never seen it in print in the way your link shows or I've never noticed it.

Just went looking and now I see it. Apparently I was taught wrong. Too late to go back to that teacher now. A comma before the "and" looks strange and incorrect to me after so many years. I see no logic to it when "and" should replace it as I was taught.

No comma before the "and".

Sometimes you use the "and" as an emphasiser than a conjunciton. I went to the supermarket, bought myself apples,oranges, and, (pause in speech) bananas, because you asked me for them, otherwise I would not have bought them at all!. They are too high on carbohydrates and I am dieting!!!! (the triple exclamation marks are used in dialogue to show irritation :). I am not. .

Ducky

lol

I took a course in business communications last year.  The comma was used after each word in the list, which means that I would have written the phrase "apples, oranges, and bananas." 

That extra comma is a lot of key strokes over a life time of writting.  Lets not waste that energy and honor the president with all that  saved energy.  That's enough energy to run the presidents watch for about 1 second.