Re:The Land of the Free and “The Elements of Style” (2010) [...
by mcnamaratw on Tuesday December 08, 2015 @08:10AM
(#10696086)
Looks like a bunch of good points held together by diatribe. S&W is a good book. The list of errata would be more helpful without the ranting.
Example: Prescriptive grammar didn't rely so much on evidence. That's a truism that (a) doesn't tell us much about E.B. White's personal character flaws ("arrogance"), and (b) leaves us awfully starry-eyed and idealistic about the downsides of descriptive grammar. Who knows what they'll say about us in fifty years?
Re:The Land of the Free and “The Elements of Style” (2010) [...
by jjgreen on Tuesday December 08, 2015 @07:09AM
(#10695921)
Depends on whether you think one should follow Mr Strunk and Mr White (plural) or their book (singular). It always irked me that PEP8 insisted that you become a stalker.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=557618
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=566335
Example: Prescriptive grammar didn't rely so much on evidence. That's a truism that (a) doesn't tell us much about E.B. White's personal character flaws ("arrogance"), and (b) leaves us awfully starry-eyed and idealistic about the downsides of descriptive grammar. Who knows what they'll say about us in fifty years?
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/