White, speaking for himself, and, posthumously, for Professor Strunk, prefers The line said: 'Charles' Tonsils Out.' Mr. White objects to a headline in this paper concerning the son of Queen Elizabeth (no comma) II. But would you write 'Queen Elizabeth, II, of Great Britain' and all her other titles?Īgain, Mr. We are all trying to balance literature's inflated budget. This adds nothing to clarity, adds something to clutter, and is an unthrifty use of ink at a time when

He and his lieber meister insist, for example, on putting a comma between Strunk and Jr. White has shown wit and sensibility and-architectural curmudgeons please note-he has put in some fine picture windows of his own. In restoring and amplifying Professor Strunk's house of words Mr. White's early guides to grace and lucidity. It is called 'The Elements of Style,'* and it was originally written by Prof. He has brought out a splendid trophy for all who are interested in reading and writing. Illimitable attics where our eternally changing idioms are stored, along with the astonishing variety of rules concerning what is unsavorily known as English usage.Į. There is always room, though, for one more example of a collision between terminological exactitude and lexicographic elegance in the ghostly, The song and the singers cannot remain forever new hat. Or, in the case of outposts, 'All alone on a submerged volcano cone.'īut the grammatic occasion passes, too. Us of the stimulating company of friendly and attractive ladies' might pass.

Perhaps 'We intensely regret that the exigencies and regulations having to do with our wartime service in the American armed forces now deployed in the South Pacific (or Rodgers and Hammerstein and Michener) theatre of operations deprive How their grammar teachers might like the thought phrased-if they considered it suitable Hat they ain't got, the singers sang, is dames. With Revisions, an introduction and a new chapter on writing by E.B. JBooks of the Times By CHARLES POORE The Elements of Style By William Strunk Jr.

The elements of style eb white