[PRL] The Land of the Free and "The Elements of Style": How False Claims about English Grammar Do Actual Harm

[David Herman]

I heartily recommend this to anyone who has even a passing interest in linguistics. Geoffrey Pullum is an absolute delight to listen to/read, is a main author of one of the most entertaining and informative blogs around (Language Log), and is on a serious mission to disabuse Americans of our addiction to Strunk and White. He's been stuck in Boston since the eruption of Ejyafjallajökull-- grab your chance while he's a prisoner in your town!

Dave

On Apr 20, 2010, at 7:20 AM, Mitchell Wand wrote:

> From: CSAIL Event Calendar <eventcalendar at csail.mit.edu>
> To: seminars at csail.mit.edu
> Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:50:21 -0400
> Subject: TALK:Tuesday 4-20-10 The Land of the Free and "The Elements of Style": How False Claims about English Grammar Do Actual Harm
> 
> The Land of the Free  and  "The Elements of Style": How False Claims about English Grammar Do Actual Harm
> Speaker: Geoffrey K. Pullum
> Speaker Affiliation: University of Edinburgh
> Host: Regina Barzilay
> Host Affiliation: CSAIL
> 
> Date: 4-20-2010
> Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
> Location: 32 G449
> 
>  Language Log (www.languagelog.org) has fought a long battle against
> regarding "The Elements of Style" as a respectable work on using the
> English language.  But if some of what Language Log has published is
> perhaps somewhat bit hyperbolic (its authors were described in one post
> as "a shameless, pontificating, ignorant, hypocritical, incompetent,
> authoritarian pair of old weasels"), there are nonetheless some serious
> issues involved.  American writing instructors recommend "Elements" to
> their students despite its being astonishingly outdated; ludicrously
> idiosyncratic; unfollowable on some points (because of self-contradiction);
> grossly and demonstrably inaccurate on points of syntactic fact; and
> actually mendacious in some of the ways it tries to make plausible its
> toxic brew of opinions and proscriptions.  Linguists should take seriously
> the notion that such indefensible bossy advice about grammar does actual
> harm, both by wasting resources and by promoting "nervous cluelessness".
> Education is not promoted through encouraging educated Americans to
> believe, falsely, that their command of their own native language is
> flawed and inadequate.
> 
> Relevant URL(S):

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