
Elegant Variations and All That (1996) - aspenmayer
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/12/elegant-variations-and-all-that/376744/
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aspenmayer
Editors’ survey of the English language as it’s written and spoken, and its
wonderfully workmanlike idiosyncrasies: descriptivism & prescriptivism;
British, American, and other regional variants; political (in)correctness;
sexist and racist epithets; corporate and business jargon; opinion, wit,
advice, and history.

I found this gem especially relevant to this community.

 _Burchfield has his own idiosyncrasies (he devotes an entire page of a six-
page preface to a description of the database of examples he set up on a
personal computer, for instance), but although he has a far better
understanding of the English language than his predecessor, he does not have
the style and wit. Rewritten, this book has ceased to be Fowler. Those who
still want their Fowler must acquire an original. This is as it should be, for
Fowler, with all its authentic interest and appeal, is now a period piece, to
be read and enjoyed for what it is. Burchfield, in his new edition, has
succeeded admirably in producing a sensible, practical, up-to-date, sometimes
controversial, and altogether excellent guide to English usage, and it will be
welcomed by those seeking a prescriptive usage guide for this generation._

The book is _The New Fowler 's Modern English Usage, 3rd Edition_, edited by
Robert Burchfield and H.W. Fowler.

[Original title was vague and lacking context. It was: _Elegant Variations and
All That_ ]

For those who have trouble with the link:

[https://web.archive.org/web/20200107142207/https://www.theat...](https://web.archive.org/web/20200107142207/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1996/12/elegant-
variations-and-all-that/376744/)

~~~
aspenmayer
Speaking of period pieces, the _3rd Edition_ (1996) has itself become one. The
current _4th Edition_ (2015), edited by Jeremy Butterfield, is also highly
regarded.

[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/978019966...](https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199661350.001.0001/acref-9780199661350)

A selected review [not mine, no interest but literary and informative]:

[https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/fowlers-
dicti...](https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/fowlers-dictionary-
of-modern-english-usage-4th-edition-by-jeremy-butterfield/)

