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Subject:Re: It is . . . . . From:Tim Giles <tgiles -at- GSVMS2 -dot- CC -dot- GASOU -dot- EDU> Date:Thu, 10 Aug 1995 16:25:08 -0600
In message Thu, 10 Aug 1995 09:11:19 EDT,
Scott McDaniel <mcdaniel -at- PIONEER -dot- USPTO -dot- GOV> writes
> I've always wondered what the antecedent is in the sentence,
> "It's raining."
> The sentence makes perfect sense, everyone knows what it means,
> and I can't think of another way to say the same thing in half
> as many syllables. Is this use of "it" bad style or just an
> exception?
Scott,
No, and I suspect the fault partly lies with English teachers. "It is
raining" is less fun to read than "The rain beat and tore us with
thousands of manic, laughing fingers." As an English teacher,
I would like to apologize for this professional oversight.
