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How long, exactly, have shortsighted curmudgeons been bemoaning the poor grammar of the generations that follow theirs?
For much of the early 1800s, usage of the parenthesis and the colon declined drastically.
As those marks waned, the semicolon waxed, flourishing to the point of overuse.
In the meantime, another trend developed, one with equally lasting consequences.
But by 1926, with H.W.
FowlersA Dictionary of Modern English Usage, suggestions had hardened into rules.
No more music or prosody; now language was scientific.
The distinction between these two ways of looking at a mark may seem academic, but it matters.
Watsons use of the wordproperlysignals the transition from This is how we do thingsto This is how everyoneshoulddo things.
White padded out and republished in 1959.
And if language ceaselessly changes, can a grouping of informed suggestions remain useful?
If, as Im inclined to believe, they dont help much at all, what can?
How the hell can people improve their writing?
Lets back up a bit: Why isnt Strunk & Whites classic calledThe Elements of Grammar?
By Fowlers time, grammar had become Grammar, and style was what one did with it.
Theres money in it.
Samuel Kirkhams 1823 guide (basically an update of Murrays) went into 110 (!)
Patricia OConnors 1996 instructional guideWoe Is Iwas recently published in its fourth edition.
Make no mistake: Grammar is a lucrative game.
The reason we pay happily for these manuals is straightforward, if a little sad.
Weve been convinced that we need them that without them, wed be lost.
Lot and lots of emails.
And we all want to write better.
No, its not.
The most famous injunction from Strunk & White Omit needless words is, of course, a style suggestion.
But it is good advice nonetheless, and a vigilance against superfluity can legitimately improve your writing.
This too is practical wisdom.
It turns out the most useful elements of grammar guides are the least measurable.
Instead, we have the subtitle toDreyers English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style.
(Sure, Dreyers being a bit wry, but I imagine the wit misses the target reader.)
Its the difference between saying This is how you write better and This is how you write.
How could an ordinary person whos interested in writingnotfeel intimidated by the pedigree of the authors?
A grammar guide will never make you a better writer.
Not a little bit.
Your editor will do the rest, anyway.
