Language rules

[geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA]

 Speaking as a moderately heretical editor, there are _no_
 rules for English, though there're books full of rules of
 thumb. These rules of thumb all boil down to either "it
 doesn't make much sense in terms of clear communication but
 everyone does it anyway and will understand" or "we do it
 this way because everyone who speaks English has been
 trained to understand this form of communication". If you
 can't fit a rule into either category, make darn sure you
 understand whether the rule facilitates communication
 before you inflict it on your readers.

 Grammar has one purpose and one purpose only: to help us
 communicate effectively. Where a rule gets in the way of
 clear communication, it's almost always because it doesn't
 fit in either of the two categories I specified. And to me,
 rules that don't fit in either category are generally
 optional. There's a lovely book, Miss Thistlebottom's
 Hobgoblins (sorry, no details handy), that debunks many of
 the more common misunderstandings about English rules, and
 it's well worth a read.

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

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