Looks like a bunch of good points held together by diatribe. S&W is a good book. The list of errata would be more helpful without the ranting. Example: Prescr

Looks like a bunch of good points held together by diatribe. S&W is a good book. The list of errata would be more helpful without the ranting. Example: Prescriptive grammar didn't rely so much on evidence. That's a truism that (a) doesn't tell us much about E.B. White's personal character flaws ("arrogance"), and (b) leaves us awfully starry-eyed and idealistic about the downsides of descriptive grammar. Who knows what they'll say about us in fifty years?