A friend who teaches at a major university in the area tells me that there is a piece in The Chronicle of Higher Education by a linguistics professor at the University of Edinburgh being passed around writing centers and the English department at her school and eliciting not-so-muffled calls of support along with a not inconsiderable amount of giggling.
The essay, "50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice,'' takes the venerated little style guide to task on the occasion of its 50th birthday, which took place on Thursday. (Instant update: I just learned that NPR has also recently weighed in on the dust-up.)
The piece takes backhanded shots at the book's guidance on style ("vapid'' and "silly" but perhaps best "described the way "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' describes Earth: mostly harmless'').
Author Geoffrey K. Pullum's main complaint, however, is with the way Strunk and White ("grammatical incompetents'') teach grammar, particularly given that "'Elements' settled in as the primary vehicle through which grammar was taught to college students and the general public.''
Pullum rails at blanket dictums such as "use the active voice,'' pointing out that there are completely appropriate uses of the passive voice and poking fun at the fact that Strunk and White apparently unwittingly lapse into passive voice in a number of places.
He also takes issue with their injunction against the split infinitive, arguing that it "has always been grammatical and does not need to be avoided.''
Pullum scratches his head at the fact that Strunk and White seemingly "preferred to base their grammar claims on intuition and prejudice rather than established literary usage.''
As evidence he takes apart their instructions on the verb agreement with the word "none'' (always use the singular verb, they counsel), their command to refrain from starting a sentence with "however,'' and the insistence that "which'' should not be used to introduce a restrictive relative clause. He rebuts these assertions by citing places where the practices of many famous and celebrated writers over the years contradict the guidance offered by "Elements.''
All in all, a good bit of fun for writerly and academic types. Pass it on.