THINKER'S ALMANAC - December 17

How can you state a rule for effective writing while at the same time violating the rule?

Subject:  Paradox - Fumblerules

Event:  Birthday of  William Safire b-day 1929  

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. -Carl Rogers

Today is the birthday of New York Times columnist William Safire (1929-2009). On November 4, 1979, Safire published an article on the “Fumblerules of Grammar.”  Each of Safire’s fumblerules states a rule while at the same time breaking it, such as:

Never use prepositions to end sentences with.

                                                                Image by Shotkitimages from Pixabay 

Several years after Safire’s column appeared, he wrote a book based on his collection of fumblerules called How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar.  In the book, Safire includes 50 chapters, one for each of his fumblerules.  After stating each “misrule,” he provides a brief essay with examples and explanations of the right way to write.

In the first ten chapters of the book, Safire features the following essential fumblerules:

No sentence fragments.

Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read.

A writer must not shift your point of view.

Do not put statements in the negative form.

Don’t use contractions in formal writing.

The adverb always follows the verb.

Make an all-out effort to hyphenate when necessary but not when un-necessary.

Don’t use Capital letters without good REASON.

It behooves us to avoid archaisms.

Reserve the apostrophe for it’s proper use and omit it when its not needed. (1)

A key element of any fumblerules is paradox, a logically self-contradictory statement.  In order to grasp a fumblerule, readers must hold two contradictory ideas in their mind, both the rule that’s being stated and the rule that at the same time is being violated.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  Explain how an essential feature of a Fumblerule is a paradox.

Challenge - Recover the Fumblerule:  What is your favorite fumblerule — a writing or grammar rule that states a rule while at the same time breaking it?  Select your single favorite fumblerule, and write an explanation of how it relates to effective writing.  Use the fumblerule as your title, followed by a paragraph where you explain how the rule relates to legitimate writing.  

Sources:

1- Safire, William.  How Not to Write:  The Essential Misrules of Grammar.  New York:  W.W. Norton & Company, 1990.