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Subject:Re: Strunk and White From:"Wojcik, Richard H" <Rick -dot- Wojcik -at- PSS -dot- BOEING -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 3 Aug 1999 14:10:42 -0700
Bev, I don't recall that anyone called Strunk and White out of date. I had
erroneously claimed that it was available on the internet, but only the
earlier "Strunk" version was available. Perhaps you are confusing that
thread with an attack on S&W's currency.
The fact that S&W appears on so many reading lists does not mean that it
contains accurate or good information. It is THE traditional style guide
for English. A lot of people swear by it, but I doubt that most of its
supporters have read it recently. Nor do I believe that most of them would
follow all of its advice. For example, S&W recommend that you use "shall"
for "will" in the first person, but very few style guides recommend that
anymore. The verb "contact" is widely used to mean "get in touch with"
despite S&W's teeth-gnashing over that usage. To my knowledge, "can" has
always been used in the sense of "is possible", and there is nothing wrong
with using "would" (vs. S&W's recommended "should") in conditionals.
Sometimes S&W give outright goofy advice as in the following passage:
"The word _people_ is best not used with words of number in place of
_persons_. If of 'six people', five went away, how many 'people' would be
left? Answer: one people."
Most of the worst anachronisms and logical mistakes are in Chapter IV "Words
and Expressions Commonly Misused".
Please don't misunderstand me. I can find plenty of good advice in S&W,
too. The reason that I recommend S&W is that it does contain some
reasonable advice on style. I also believe that the essence of a good
education is the development of a critical mind, and you can't develop a
critical mind by being exposed only to correct or useful ideas. Personally
(ooh--bad usage!!), I find S&W to be a gold mine. It makes you think about
language. So enjoy it and keep it in mind as you read other, better works
on style and language.
> ----------
> From: Bev Lockhart[SMTP:bl -at- seattlelab -dot- com]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 1999 10:35 AM
> To: Wojcik, Richard H; TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Strunk and White
>
> If Strunk and White is considered out of date, how come it still appears
on
> most required reading lists for (college) English 101 and upwards?
>
>
>
>
> Bev Lockhart
> Documentation Editor
>
> Seattle Lab, Inc. PHONE: (425) 825-7012
> 11730-118th Ave. NE FAX: (425) 825-7013
> Ste. 400
> Kirkland, WA 98034-7120
>
> mail to: bl -at- seattlelab -dot- com
>http://www.seattlelab.com
>
>
>
>
