Choose Your Grammar Battle, and Take a Side
Thursday, April 16, marks the 50th anniversary of the first edition of the writing and grammar guide The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. “Publishers at Pearson Education Inc. are proud to say it has not changed at all since that first edition,” Editor & Publisher staffers wrote on the E&P Pub blog.
But grammar has a way of being controversial, and this manual has its critics. Geoffrey K. Pullum, head of linguistics and English language at the University of Edinburgh and co-author of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, has used this anniversary as an opportunity to tear into the tome in The Chronicle Review, calling Strunk and White “idiosyncratic bumblers,” defending the passive voice and the split infinitive, and noting where the authors break their own rules in the text of the book. NBC’s New York / Around Town blog writes that it seems like Pullum “has been carrying this baggage for quite a while (maybe 50 years), and he positively unloads.”
We would like to give ABAJournal.com readers —who have demonstrated that the grammar and style crimes they see others commit do not go unnoticed—a chance to do the same. What persistent grammar or style conventions do you regularly see in others’ writing and strongly disagree with? And if you’re familiar with The Elements of Style, do you think it needs any updates?
Answer in the comments below.
Read last week’s question: When the Going Gets Tough, What’s the Best Niche Practice?
Featured Answer:
Posted by eag: I’m shocked that no one’s mentioned elder law! The boomers are turning 65 —fast. Many of them have parents who are still living. They are facing complex challenges—estate planning, tax issues associated with retirement accounts, financial stress, children with special needs, anticipating incapacity, etc., etc. The demographics indicate that the work will be increasing. Of course, you need to have the right temperament and high emotional intelligence for the work, so not all lawyers are cut out for it. I find the work personally satisfying and it gives me a decent living.
Updated at 10:14 a.m. to fix a typographical error.
