...and as a sacrifice upon the altar of clarity in writing, I offer
this paean (originally from Harpers Magazine) to Garner's _Modern
American Usage_.  It's also a whacking wonderful read,*  and do
follow the footnotes, as they add considerably IMO.

*for those who will enjoy it, of course.  For those who don't, it
will I imagine be somewhere between tedium and terror.  The list of
lexicographical faux pas that introduces the article is one great
inchoate scream of pain that probably registers on sensitive
detectors throughout the galaxy.

http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/DFW_present_tense.html

Yours,
David
A three-parts prescriptivist semi-SNOOT.

--
David Beierl -- dbeierl@attglobal.net