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From New York City, this is Lexicon Valley, a podcast about language.

I'm John McWhorter, and today I'm afraid I'm going to make a lot of you mad.

Strunken White.

Yep.

The Elements of Style.

It's that little book that's so popular.

I'm sorry, but that book just isn't as godly

as it may seem, and it's my responsibility as a linguist to let you know. Yes, I know your parents

gave it to you when you went off to college. It's a neat size and makes a handy gift,

and all of us love E.B. White, especially because there's something ineffably magic about Charlotte's Webb.

I know. But really, at the end of the day, the mystique of strunken white is basically just that it's popular.

You know what? So was Baywatch.

Some people stand in the darkness. It's popular. You know what? So was Baywatch. And as with Baywatch, much of Strunken White was of its time, but it's been superseded now.

And much of Strunken White is just wrong, as like with Baywatch.

Here's a good quote on Strunk and White from linguist Jeff Pullum.

He really has been railing against Strunk and White for a very long time, and he does it

better than I ever could.

At one point, he said, it's sad.

...