Fumblerules
Fumblerules are humorous rules for writing, collected from teachers of English grammar.[1] A fumblerule contains an example contrary to the advice it gives, such as "don't never use no double negatives", "eschew obfuscation" and "a preposition is never something to end a sentence with", a form of self-reference.
The science editor George L. Trigg published a list of such rules in 1979.[2] The term "Fumblerules" was coined in a list of such rules compiled by William Safire on Sunday, 4 November 1979,[3][4] in his column "On Language" in the New York Times. Safire later authored a book titled A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage, which was reprinted in 2005 as How Not To Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar.
Examples
- "Don't never use no double negatives."
- "Eschew obfuscation."
- "Prepositions are not words to end a sentence with."
- "Avoid clichés like the plague."
- "The passive voice should never be employed."
- "You should not use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice."
- "It is bad to carelessly split infinitives."
- "About those sentence fragments."
See also
References
- ↑ Dennis Joseph Enright (1983). A Mania for Sentences. Chatto & Windus/Hogarth Press.
- ↑ Physical Review Letters 42 (12), pp. 747–748 (19 March 1979)
- ↑ alt.usage.english.org's Humorous Rules for Writing
- ↑ Safire, William (1979-11-04). "On Language; The Fumblerules of Grammar". New York Times. p. SM4.