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Subject:Re: It is . . . . . From:Loren Castro <lfc -at- SOL -dot- CHINALAKE -dot- NAVY -dot- MIL> Date:Thu, 10 Aug 1995 15:46:27 -0700
Scott McDaniel asks a sensible question:
> 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?
SECNAVINST 5216.5C, which I cited previously as discouraging the
"It is" opening, goes on to say, "Spare only natural expressions
such as 'it is time to . . .' or 'it is hard to . . .'" Scott's
"It's raining" seems to fit in here.