The flexibility of "rules" about style (p. 749)

Although grammatical rules such as those described in Chapters 29-34 do not allow for much if any flexibility, stylistic rules such as those discussed in Chapters 40-44 are quite different. In fact, these are not rules so much as guidelines--rules of thumb that can be broken when the occasion calls for it. One guideline, for example, advises you to avoid sentence fragments, yet there are special cases where using a fragment might produce just the right rhetorical effect (35d). Another guideline recommends avoiding a noun-heavy style (40f), but if you're writing a scannable resume (25c-2) a noun-heavy style is the style you want. Split infinitives can be good or bad, depending on several factors (38d-2).

There are a number of Web sites that address these issues in quite an entertaining fashion. A particularly good one is http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html.

Some dictionaries such as the American Heritage Dictionary employ a Usage Panel to adjudicate controversial issues about style (see 43b-6).

Patricia T. O'Conner's Woe Is I (New York: Putnam, 1996) has a delightful chapter on the subject entitled, "The Living Dead: Let Bygone Rules Be Gone."

Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct (NY: HarperCollins, 1994) has a chapter you shouldn't miss on "The Language Mavens."

Joseph Williams's Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace (New York: HarperCollins) has an excellent chapter on "Correctness."