A fumblerule is a rule of language or linguistic style, humorously written in such a way that it breaks this rule.[1] Fumblerules are a form of self-reference.
The science editor George L. Trigg published a list of such rules in 1979.[2] The term fumblerules was coined in a list of such rules compiled by William Safire on Sunday, 4 November 1979,[3][4] in his column "On Language" in The New York Times. Safire later authored a book titled Fumblerules: A Lighthearted Guide to Grammar and Good Usage, which was reprinted in 2005 as How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar.
Examples
edit- "Avoid clichés like the plague."
- "Don't listen to any advice."
- "Ending a sentence with a preposition is one thing that I will not put up with."
- "English is the crème de la crème of all languages."
- "Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation."
- "It is bad to carelessly split infinitives."
- "Never use no double negatives."
- "No sentence fragments."
- "Parentheses are (almost always) unnecessary."
- "The passive voice should never be employed."
- "You should not use a big word when a diminutive one would suffice."
- "And don't begin a sentence with a connective."
- "Using discourse markers in academic writing basically sounds terrible, you know."
See also
edit- Muphry's law – Adage related to Murphy's Law
- Epimenides paradox, a self-referential statement by a Cretan that "All Cretans are liars."
- The Hacker Writing Style section of the Jargon File includes humorous examples of self-referential examples in copyediting, such as "This sentence no verb.", "Bad speling", and "Incorrectspa cing".
References
edit- ^ Dennis Joseph Enright (1983). A Mania for Sentences. Chatto & Windus/Hogarth Press. ISBN 9780701126629.
- ^ Trigg, George L. (1979-03-19). "GRAMMAR". Physical Review Letters. 42 (12). American Physical Society (APS): 747–748. Bibcode:1979PhRvL..42..747T. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.42.747. ISSN 0031-9007.
- ^ "alt.usage.english.org's Humorous Rules for Writing". Archived from the original on 2006-08-25. Retrieved 2006-07-28.
- ^ Safire, William (4 November 1979). "On Language; The Fumblerules of Grammar". New York Times (published 1979-11-04). p. SM4.
External links
edit- The Fumblerules of Grammar by William Safire
- Fumblerules entry on the alt.usage.english FAQ
- Hacker writing style section of JARGON FILE, VERSION 4.3.3, 20 SEP 2002
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