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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