Comma before “or” when it introduces synonym or explanation


This Grammar Tip of the Day:



The rule: Place a comma before "or" when what follows it means the same as what precedes it.



confirms what I understand about using a comma before the word or — when it explains the preceding word further or gives its synonym.


However, Oxford Dictionaries’ definition 2 uses a comma before or in the first example:



yoga is a series of postures, or asanas



But it doesn’t use a comma in the next couple examples:




  1. Joshua was born weighing just 18 ounces – half a kilo or just over a pound.

  2. By early Tuesday he was dead – a victim of the most deadly of the world’s culinary delicacies, the blowfish or fugu.



Am I missing something?




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