Here we go: My most controversial post
On Grammar and Usage Changing—And Not Changing
Today we will go over some of the old, some of the new, perhaps of the borrowed, none of the blue.
Old School (stuff I learned over 35 years ago)
First, some old rules we learned and a minor case for ditching them. These are of the not-so-consequential variety.
Ending a sentence with a preposition: This is how people talk to each other. Or maybe “These are the words people talk with.”
Not only . . . but also: Not only is there a long-standing argument for this one, but I don’t agree with it. Also I can sometimes scrap the also.
Never split infinitives. Not only have we been taught to boldly go by Star Trek, the split infinitive is often used for emphasis. At times, it’s the best placement of your emphasis word. Consider “to quickly see the rules that are old versus new.” How does “to see quickly the rules that are old versus new” sound? I understand that it’s considered more proper, but I don’t like the flow of that sentence. It sounds stilted, formal, and unclear. Chicago gave up the recommendation not to split infinitives after 1983, around the time I first learned the rule. Grow with the times. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/SplitInfinitives.html
Not starting a sentence with And or But. Sometimes those are the best choices. If you’re stretching for a transition word, they’re often better than the ones you land on. As an editor I strike Additionally and Unfortunately a lot. I’m less likely to strike And or But. Like any terms, these can suffer from overuse. But used judiciously, these words make fine sentence starters.
Now, Where It Matters (newer stuff I’ve changed my mind about)
Singular they. For years I argued that he or she was both sexist (putting the man first) and awkward. Now I see it as completely erasing nonbinary people. And still awkward. The style guides these days are all in on singular “they.” Get with the program.
B as in Black. Referring to Black race, the B is now capitalized. Some style guides also capitalize W in white. I don’t unless I’m in a style guide (APA) that makes me. I’m influenced here by John McWhorter’s essay on the term White as corrupted by white supremacists. Chicago left the w in white up to author and editor. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/07/defund-the-police-fine-linguistically.html
In both the above cases, old-school styling is considered a form of microaggression. Consider carefully. I’ve gotten to the point where I wince at lower-case (b)lack and he or she.
Hills to Die On (stuff I’ve been moaning about for 30 years—and still consider moan-worthy)
The Oxford Comma, a.k.a. serial comma. I’m good with this, that, and the other. Chicago and APA styles concur. I find it strange how much I agree with the AP on, like all their anti-bias guidance, and then it comes to this ONE BIG place of disagreement. Associated Press refuses to concede we need the serial comma, yet its rules were built in a time when type was paid by the character, not based on clarity. For all eternity thereafter, journalism students are taught to forego the final comma. I met a lawyer who tried a case based on the absence of the Oxford Comma (was the land meant to be divided four ways or five?), and I have a friend who calculated that the cost of training the in-house assistants when to use and when not to use the comma was far higher than using the damned thing all the time.
I’ve also read people who say that if you have an opinion on the Oxford Comma, you’re spending too much time on this stuff. Well, that’s me. If you want consistent clarity, switch to the serial comma.
Utilize. Utilize has a specific meaning, centered on employing something for a purpose it wasn’t intended. You utilize a key to open a box. Usually, the word use can be substituted. My main problem, though, is that people write “utilize” when they’re trying to sound erudite, cluttering the writing with polysyllabic words to demonstrate sesquipedalianism.
Finally, the word I (as opposed to me) in the objective case. If you take out a compound object (think: the other person in the second part of the sentence), would you still say “I”? Jex went to Denmark with Seth and me. Would you say Jex went to Denmark with I? (Of course you wouldn’t; he went with Seth and me. And that was ten years ago. Why is this what we’re talking about?)
I hope you see what I did there.