Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 exptools 1/6/84; site ihuxq.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2 From: amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson) Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: re: flammable vs. inflammable and Strunk & White Message-ID: <607@ihuxq.UUCP> Date: Tue, 7-Feb-84 16:04:48 EST Article-I.D.: ihuxq.607 Posted: Tue Feb 7 16:04:48 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 9-Feb-84 22:15:54 EST References: <606@ihuxq.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL Lines: 25 I want to applaud Ken Perlow's statements on Strunk & White. It is like learning how to play a musical instrument. The dictionary is where you learn where the notes are, a Manual of Style is where you learn about tempo, phrasing, etc. To say that all you need to know is what the notes are is like saying that the Oshkosh (Wisconsin) High School band is as good as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They both know where the notes are, and could read them just as well. There is an episode of M*A*S*H where Major Winchester says to a soldier who is a concert pianist "I can play the notes, but I can't make music." No, I am not trying to turn everyone into Hemingways and Steinbecks, but I agree with Sir Winston Churchill who said that every school boy should be given Latin for pleasure and Greek for a treat, but must be able to write a simple English sentence. (And yes, the study of Latin can be a pleasure. I well remember reading St. Augustine's Confessions in Latin and feeling joy, both for his love of God and for the beauty of his prose.) John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs Naperville, IL (312) 979-0193 ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2