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Jonathon: It's funny. Ever since my reply ran in her hometown newspaper she's not returning my e-mails suggesting we rent some old movies, make s'mores, and do each other's nails.
]]>Gee, I can't think of a better way to become friends with someone.
It's sad when someone equates defense of the language with following a bunch of superstitious pseudo-rules. It's sadder still when they can't even properly identify when someone has violated them.
]]>Leslie: Thank you for the great question. I'm going to address it fully in a future blog post, probably the week after next. But here's the condensed version: 1. Buy a copy of Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage or Garner's Modern American Usage (or both) and spend some time flipping through it/them. 2. Do the same with one of the two major style guides: the Chicago Manual of Style if your writers are more book/magazine types, the Associated Press Stylebook if they're news media/PR types. 3. Sit down and read the "Guide to the Dictionary" or "Explanatory Notes" section in the front of one of the major dictionaries. Many, many mysteries revealed in here! 4. If want a primer on sentence structure, I put one in appendix 1 of my book "It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences." 5. Remember: Whenever anyone starts a sentence about grammar with the words "You can't" or "It's wrong to," tell them to prove it. 99 out of 100 times they can't because they're just spouting myths! And by spending some time reading the above-mentioned resources, you'll never have to live in fear of people like that again! More soon ...
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