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Subject:Re: Strunk and White From:"Dick Margulis" <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 20 Sep 2001 08:32:23 -0400
The word style has a variety of connotations. Certainly Strunk & White is a guide to clear prose style, which may be what your prospect has in mind. It is a style _guide_. Chicago is a style _manual_, laying out in excruciating detail the hows, whys, and wherefores of editorial style--getting squiggly black marks on paper in a way that makes meaning clear and does not distract the reader.
Think of them as, respectively, the functional spec and the design spec for a program that turns out well-written English for publication. They complement each other and sit side by side on my shelf.
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: stefpierre -at- netscape -dot- net (Stephanie Pierre)
Reply-To: stefpierre -at- netscape -dot- net (Stephanie Pierre)
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 23:11:15 -0400
>Is Strunk and White considered to be a style guide? I've considered it a guide to clear writing, but not a style guide.
>
> A prospective employer is asking whether I would agree with considering Strunk and White as "the foundation of our house style" or whether I would prefer The Chicago Manual of Style. He proposes to use S&W first, and then
>CMOS for anything not covered by S&W.
>
> I am inclined to say to him that S&W is a guide to clear writing, not a style guide, and that CMOS is a true style guide.
>
> What do you all think?
>--
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