http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1936/05/16/1936_05_16_020_TNY_CARDS_000161110?currentPage=all
Oh my, thank you Circuitsmith! What a wonderful “ride down memory lane” with the author of that 1936 article. Interesting in many ways, including how well written the article was.
What a great essay. Thanks for sharing it!
@Marnet–Mr. White was indeed a wonderful writer, and I dare say that you may be familiar with some of his books. Take a look at this bio of him:
@VDCdriver – oh my, I had totally missed noticing the author of the article. Yes, E. B. White was quite the skilled writer of delightful prose. Thank you!
And his writing guide “The Elements of Style” (often just called ‘Strunk and White’) is perhaps the standard guide on effective written communications.
I still own my copy of Elements of Style that I got in college. Hmmm, it has been a long time since I dusted it off and read through it.
I still remember my delighted amusement on reading Elements of Style in English class and discovering the passage which I still have memorized:
“The subject of a sentence and the principal verb should not, as a rule, be separated by a phrase or clause that can be transferred to the beginning.”
Rule No. 1: No rule is inviolable. Except this one. 