Oxford or Serial Comma Use in Lists

     An Oxford or serial comma is a stylistic choice that emphasizes the last item in a list as being separate from the one immediately before it by separating the "and [last item]" from its predecessor.
     A list in which an Oxford comma would be necessary would look like this:

I love to eat ice cream, and my grandmother.  (a broadly affectionate declaration, vs. the cannibalistic "I love to eat ice cream and my grandmother.")