After some months and numerous delays, I have finished reading Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style — all 85 pages of it (102, with the glossary and introductions). It seems that doing so required that I spend two weeks in parts unfamiliar and two hours on a bus with broken headphones. Despite the uncertainty which, on cue, descends upon me as I descend back home, I feel both relieved and delighted by the advice in this volume.

An excerpt; see if you can guess at the root of my fondness:

Flammable.     An oddity, chiefly useful in saving lives. The common word meaning “combustible” is inflammable. But some people are thrown off by the in- and think inflammable means “not combustible.” For this reason, trucks carrying gasoline or explosives are now marked FLAMMABLE. Unless you are operating such a truck and hence are concerned with the safety of children and illiterates, use inflammable.

My having read the book also gives me a more solid introduction to the gerund.

The next time I am insane, I might revise my entire backlog of articles, such that they no longer horrify me.

I have been suggested to post this. I will post this now.