For a century, the Bible of all good writers, and those aspiring to be, has been "The Elements of Style," first authored in 1918 by pedantic Prof. William Strunk, Jr., who later was joined by the highly entertaining writer, E.B. White, Strunk's former student famous for his articles in The New Yorker literary magazine. Strunk re-published the book in 1935 with Edward Tenney as co-author. Strunk died in 1946 and White took over the book, adding his entertaining style to it for the second edition in 1959. Another edition was published in 1972, but White died in 1985. The book, small enough to fit in a hip pocket, became better known as Strunk & White. "The Elements of Style" remained untouched until 1999 when the fourth edition was published largely as a text book and changed somewhat to make it more politically correct. As an example, the pre-feminist movement references to indefinite pronouns in the masculine form unless the feminine is obvious. In 2005, illustrations were added. But, none of the Strunk & Whites addresses today's writing and speaking and all the new misuses of the language that have transpired since the 1972 edition. For example, you'll hear "multiple" to explain the number of something. In fact, "multiple" explains nothing; as commonly used, it is a useless word. It only means more than one. As we say, that is so indefinite, the reference could be two or a googalplex. We recommend the old words, some, few, several, many, handful, and others that give the reader or listener at least some clue to the number range. "Things Your Grammar Told Ya" is not an attempt to supplant Strunk & White. Far from it. We continue to rely on it, but offer our version to cover the use, misuse and mal-use of the English language that has transpired over recent decades. We also offer brief phrases to help the reader remember the rule we just addressed. "Don't verb nouns" helps authors and speakers remember that one should not create verbs out of nouns, such as "reference" and "impact." We also get into punctuation and offer some ideas of our own, although we don't attempt to supplant the highly entertaining "Eats, Shoots & Leaves," by British author Lynne Truss. Not only do we hope you enjoy Things Your Grammar, we hope our advice will help you improve your communication skills. Fields & Veritas
Howard Fields is a semi-retired journalist in Lahaina on Maui and author of High Crimes and Misdemeanors, W.W. Norton, 1978, about the Nixon impeachment effort. He spent a year covering the story as a UPI reporter early in a 35-year career in Washington, DC. He became a freelancer, working as a Washington reporter/writer/editor/ stringer or as bureau chief for several newspapers, magazines, newsletters and websites. He semi- retired to Hawaii in 2003, published Tommy's Wars: Paradise to Hell and Back; First Taken, Last Released: Overlooked WWII Internment; and Countdown to Pearl: Indecision to Infamy, all published by Setting the Record Straight Books, 2015 and 2016. He also specializes in editing book manuscripts and publishing the Setting the Record Straight Books series of comment on current issues. Veritas also was a career journalist, with UPI and the Houston Chronicle.
