Playing it safe is a dangerous game

Today’s re-blog shows how trying to please some folks by following all the “rules” of writing can, easily, offend and annoy many other folks…

Stroppy Editor

Here’s an argument I sometimes hear:

Sure, some of the so-called “rules” of English that you hear about are silly and pointless – don’t split infinitives and so on. But there are still a fair few people who believe in these rules, so it’s worth toeing the line to avoid annoying them.

This sounds like a reasonable, pragmatic position: play...