Fumblerules

Fumblerules are humorous rules for writing, collected from teachers of English grammar. [cite book | title = A Mania for Sentences | author = Dennis Joseph Enright | year = 1983 | publisher = Chatto & Windus/Hogarth Press | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=PD0eAAAAMAAJ&q=Fumblerules+date:0-1990&dq=Fumblerules+date:0-1990&as_brr=0&ei=fATjRuTGJqHApgKokc2FDg&pgis=1 ] A fumblerule contains an example contrary to the advice it gives, such as "don't use no double negatives" and "eschew obfuscation".

The science editor George L. Trigg published a list of such rules in 1979. ["Physics Review Letters" 42 (12), pp. 747–748 (19 March 1979)] Another list, from which this article takes its name, was compiled by William Safire on Sunday, 4 November, 1979, [ [http://alt-usage-english.org/humorousrules.html alt.usage.english.org's "Humorous Rules for Writing"] ] [citation | first = William | last= Safire | publication-date=1979-11-04 | title=On Language | periodical=New York Times] in his column "On Language" in the New York Times. Safire later authored a book entitled " [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0385413017 Fumblerules: A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage] ", which was reprinted in 2005 as " [http://www.amazon.com/dp/039332723X How Not To Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar] ".

References

External links

* [http://www.yaelf.com/aueFAQ/miffmblrlsdntsndbl.shtml "Fumblerules" entry on the alt.usage.english FAQ]