H.W. Fowler Style

Daily tweets on writing, in the spirit (and sometimes the words) of Fowler's Modern English Usage but chiefly for American writers. Alter ego of @MatthewJFranck

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

E.g., “The sentence that I write here, which may or may not include both kinds of clauses, should conform to this rule." https://t.co/6Sq7GFZFjI

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

When using relative pronouns in adjectival clauses, use "that" in restrictive clauses and "which" in non-restrictive ones.

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

Also: “than I.”

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

Make that “lie,” @thedispatch. https://t.co/UgppiF4jep

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@amjuster What, are you trolling me now?

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

A pronoun-antecedent disagreement, @wsjbooks. Since the pronoun appears in the quotation, either change the antecedent to something singular, or substitute a bracketed “[their].” https://t.co/jn8JBvXfL7

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@pgepps @thedispatch Editors’ meeting:

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

Terrible mixing of metaphors, @thedispatch. How does an ebb reach a tipping point? https://t.co/cAl9n2QA4C

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

A subject-verb disagreement, @postopinions. https://t.co/qIfHuBE436

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@skyestarfyre @WSJBooks https://t.co/bGXqKQtsBC

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@Sefika57849961 @WSJBooks Yes, on further review, I think it is mostly a punctuation trainwreck, and otherwise scans all right.

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

“”Their system ensured that Spartan males” … what, @wsjbooks? The thought is unfinished because its conclusion, “were equals,” was sawed off and marooned in the parenthetical. (Also, change the godawful verb “serviced” to “served.”) https://t.co/smRRBBmiMa

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@Sefika57849961 @WSJBooks Yes, on further review, I think it is mostly a punctuation trainwreck, and otherwise scans all right.

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

And this writer for three decades at America’s leading newspaper pretentiously chooses the British spelling of “jail.”

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

Make that “each had its quirks,” @nytimesbooks. https://t.co/Sq9FAbG1zx

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

This is a mess, @nytimes. Alarms, airbags, and sirens are the three things, but your sentence says alarms alone are the three things, just like the other two. https://t.co/rJUcXhENgY

[capybara ꕤ @capyincrisis]

this was filmed without my consent.

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@amjuster @ProofreadJulia Mid-century modern is about my speed.

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

I ask them whether they are not in fact *lying* on the track. But by the time they answer, it’s too late.

[Henrick Johansson @compliantvc]

A trolley is about to hit 5 people laying on the track

You can redirect the car, but the other track has not yet reached regulatory approval or completed its 1 year environmental testing period, so operating a train car on it is a violation of transit regulations

What do you do?

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

Coster.

[John Loeber 🎢 @johnloeber]

if you are interested in mongering, you only have three options:
1. fear
2. war
3. fish

it’s tough

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@awfoosh Sure enough, a pronunciation guide! It reminds me of the Americans who drop the final consonant in the phrase “coup de grace.”

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

A quick guide to print and hang over your desk:
difference > differential
use > utilize, utilization
crown > coronate
admonition > admonishment
diminution > diminishment
ostracism > ostracization
center > epicenter
method > methodology

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

@awfoosh Must check my copy, thanks.

[H.W. Fowler Style @HenryWFowler]

“Which” here refers to “approach,” @nytopinion, not to “Israel.” But an approach cannot resign itself, so make it read “by which it” after the comma. https://t.co/Je3Uq2So2D