On language and Grammar
Talking editing and writing —
and other reflections on working with words
__________
When one of our nieces was a toddler, her mother stepped out of the room for a few moments only to hear a resounding crash. As my sister-in-law rushed back into the room, she saw a tableau . . .
If you look squarely at the difference between it’s and its, it seems very straightforward. But there’s more to it than that.
Let’s just get this out of the way to start with: no, Winston Churchill likely never said this. At least, not as time has handed the anecdote down to us. Not in this phrasing, and not in the context most famously attributed to him.
What a delightful anecdote, what a delicious quote. (Whoever actually devised it first.) And it seems to put those opposed to trailing prepositions so satisfyingly in their place. Mangle the language so as not to end on a preposition? Never!
In written pieces, endings have special significance. The ends of sentences, the ends of paragraphs, the ends of essays, articles, books — all are positions for delivering a thought with particular emphasis and impact.
