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/lit/ - Literature

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1313941 No.1313941 [Reply] [Original]

sup /lit/, what exactly is the problem with writing the phrase "the fact that"? i know strunk and e. b. white hated it but is there a reason not to use it other than preference?

>> No.1314016

Bump for interest. I don't see anything wrong with the phrase. Maybe they had just seen it too much and thought it was trite? *shrug

>> No.1314022

I think lots of people say "the fact that" when they don't follow it up with something established, like an opinion. If you say instead that "the fact that people believe..." it is fine

>> No.1314041

>>1314022
It looks like I said opinions are established, I meant opinion in contrast to something established (as in factual)

>> No.1314065

There's nothing wrong with it, OP. You're reading a book written 90 years ago by grammarians who want the language to never change, and any linguist will tell you that's not how language works.

>> No.1314092

the elements of style is very important book if you are a writer living in 1925 america and are regularly submitting your work to the fucking new yorker.


don't let anybody tell you to closely follow this stuffy, antique conservative baloney.

>> No.1314099

>>1314065

Descriptivist.

>> No.1314115

>>1314092

It may be stuffy, but a lot of what's in it is still good goddamned advice. They revised it pretty recently too, didn't they? Or re-released it, at least. It's worth thumbing through, even if it's not the style bible it once was.

>> No.1314125

>>1314099

u say it like it's a bad thing.

>>1314115

i think in the revised editions they just cut out e.b. white's contributions. just get a usage dictionary.