“50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice – ChronicleReview.com”

I’ve never been a huge fan of “The Elements of Style,” which turned 50. If you’re like me and had told to read and study the thing to learn how to write well, only to flip through its narrow pages and wonder what people were raving about.

Geoffery K. Pullum has this to say:

“April 16 is the 50th anniversary of the publication of a little book that is loved and admired throughout American academe. Celebrations, readings, and toasts are being held, and a commemorative edition has been released.

I won’t be celebrating.

“The Elements of Style” does not deserve the enormous esteem in which it is held by American college graduates. Its advice ranges from limp platitudes to inconsistent nonsense. Its enormous influence has not improved American students’ grasp of English grammar; it has significantly degraded it.

Read the rest at The Chronicle of Higher Education.