The Word Cloud

but also just, plain, honest-to-goodness wrong. Incorrect. Ignorant.

http://chronicle.com/article/50-Years-of-Stupid-Grammar/25497

and there was me blaming its accolytes for all the idiocies and illiteracies I see peddled on the web, and not the book itself. And no wonder. For example, as that link says:

"...the bias against the passive is being retailed by a pair of authors so grammatically clueless that they don't know what is a passive construction and what isn't. Of the four pairs of examples offered to show readers what to avoid and how to correct it, a staggering three out of the four are mistaken diagnoses. "

Christ, even more tragic than the Waterstones/Waterstone’s fiasco!

Interesting, though, that one can be ‘qualified as a grammarian’ – is there some sort of test you can take?!

Waterstones doesn't bother me - the fuss has been almost word for word the same as for Harrods when it dropped it's apostrophe a century ago. The world is not going to the dogs, the barbarians are not at the gates, and there never was a golden age.

But individual pedantry is one thing - setting out rules when you don't know them yourself is another. I assume 'qualified as a grammarian' is that he has a degree in that side of linguistics, but it does sound rather splendidly Dickensian, doesn't it.

And yes, I've added an apostrophe that doesn't belong. That'll teach me to post when I'm in the middle of doing other things...

Thanks for sharing this Emma! I wish I had seen it before buying the 2000 (4th edition) copy last week! I thought it was so highly praised at York FoW, and here on the cloud, that I bought it as one of my 'must reads' on writing! I've only read the first chapter (it's quite heavy going) but the section on clauses and commas so far seemed OK (even if these bits were common sense, I figured getting used to the style of the book would help me with the tougher bits of grammar later....) Should I really bother with the rest??

However, (did you see what I did there?), I also bought Stephen King's 'On Writing', which I highly recommend as wonderful!

Excellent article!

"qualified as a grammarian" - sounds like the award should come with a ruler for rapping students over the knuckles.

OK I purchase this book while ago, as we know I very little understand about grammar and all stuff that go with it. I Reade this book from cover to cover even try to some of exercises which I gave up on after short while. But said that I know who has Reade this book and understood how it was writing and explain. So maybe depend on you choose to make sentence of it.

Quiet agree xoolane. Its lose grammer and all that stuff. Cant sigh i reed it tho.

OK I purchase this book while ago, as we know I very little understand about grammar and all stuff that go with it. I Reade this book from cover to cover even try to some of exercises which I gave up on after short while. But said that I know who has Reade this book and understood how it was writing and explain. So maybe depend on you choose to make sentence of it.

OK this does not sound right so I will get back to you all with better piece. So people can actual understand the point trying to get across.

I have re- read ed the link and maybe it old style of grammar is more easy for people to understand but I did not get one bit of examples, even moderns ways of teaching English grammar and sentences,etc. I still did not it. Just beyond me. Maybe it would best interest of everyone in clue the publisher to have the re invention for modern age.