he has found a way to say that certain matters about which most people are indifferent are in fact extremely important, and that he (Garner) has the right and proper understanding of those matters, and that we all should follow his advice—and to do all this without sounding like a condescending jerk. Without sounding snooty, we might say. For Wallace this tone marks Garner’s Dictionary as an effective book, yes, but still more as a triumph of “the Democratic Spirit.”
