Say Goodbye to Old Grammar Rules
Posted: November 07, 2017
Language seems to constantly change, as indicated by the number of updates to the AP Stylebook, and it seems that grammar rules aren't immune to that change. There are many rules that writers have followed for years but some of those may, in fact, be going out of style. Here are six old grammar rules that are slowly becoming extinct in grammar.
Kelly Gurnett, writer for The Write Life, shares six rules of grammar that are going out of style.
The Internet loves a good argument.
See: the 380+ comments on my piece on the
Oxford comma debate, which devolved into everything from political jabs to commentary on the fairness of overtime laws.
Despite all better judgment, I sometimes take a look through the most recent comments because Internet reactions amuse me. Amid the many readers continuing to rail against my adoption of AP style on a blog I specifically say uses AP style, I found one observation in particular that made me pause.
To those of you who pointed out my use of a dangling modifier, I confess: You caught me.
I also confess: I don’t feel terribly bad about it.
A few readers rightly picked up on the grammar faux pas in the sentence, “As a diehard Oxford comma loyalist, this ruling made my day.” Read literally, the construction of this sentence infers the court ruling under discussion is a diehard Oxford comma loyalist, not me.
A grammar purist will understandably be nettled by this. But I don’t feel as embarrassed as perhaps I should, because I highly doubt anyone besides a grammar purist would be confused into thinking I was anthropomorphizing a court ruling.
Which lead me me down the rabbit hole of a whole ’nother debate: When does a grammar rule pass into obsolescence?
Read the entire article
6 Old Grammar Rules That Are Finally Going Out of Style on
The Write Life.
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