THE WARDEN OF ENGLISH The Life ... From: The Washington Post | Date: October 7, 2001| Author: Michael Dirda | Copyright 2001 The Washington Post. This material is published under license from the Washington Post.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post.Copyright information

THE WARDEN OF ENGLISH

The Life of H.W. Fowler

By Jenny McMorris

Oxford Univ. 242 pp. $27.50

Some 35 years ago, Dr. Bergen Evans, a noted authority on language usage and etymology, presented a weekly radio program called "Words in the News." For a half an hour each Thursday night he would discourse on new coinages he had noticed in Time, Newsweek or one of the major newspapers. Evans possessed a vaguely British accent and an easy mastery of his subject; his half-hour...

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	A life without participles dangling: H.W. Fowler literally wrote the book on English usage.(Features)(Books) The Christian Science Monitor ; Byline: Ruth Johnstone Wales In the world of words, where Webster stands for dictionary, Fowler stands for English usage. So it's not surprising that when Oxford published a completely revised reference on usage a few years ago, it was labeled The New Fowler's Modern English Usage. But the original
	Who's to say what's proper?(new Pocket Fowler's Modern English Usage)(Brief Article) U.S. News & World Report ; LONDON-- The American has no language, wrote British author Rudyard Kipling. He is dialect, slang, provincialism, accent, and so forth. And for years, that la-di-da view was enshrined in Modern English Usage, the hoity-toity bible on the queen's lingo written 73 years ago by H. W. Fowler. But a
	Purifying the dialect of the tribe The Spectator ; When the library of V. S.Pritchett was sold off after his death some years ago, I bought a few books as a mark of homage, among them H. W. Fowler's A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. I'd possessed other copies, but this was a first edition, and while I was thumbing it idly one day I noticed that
	THE RED PENCIL The Washington Post ; My Fowler's "Modern English Usage" conflicts with yours. What's up? That's very likely. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage was first published in 1926. Henry W. fowler died in 1933. Two later versions carry his name, but were "edited" by other people. Let me translate the word "edited": it means
	Language gets more aggressive.(News) Coventry Evening Telegraph (England) ; MODERN English language has incorporated a number of aggressive terms, but is becoming more politically correct, according to an updated reference guide. Phrases such as road and air rage are commonplace in today's language, but cripple and dumb are no longer acceptable in polite society, according
	Fowler's Modern English Usage. The Advocate ; Law is a literate profession. Words are the medium by and through which lawyers' work is done. It follows that the study of syntax and grammar, of punctuation, of forms of usage and the like should be a life's work for lawyers. There are many resources that can usefully be called in aid to help in
	Mentor to the wordsmiths: The curious creator of modern english usage was a gentle despot who felt overpaid. (Writers). Alberta Report ; Meticulous, imaginative, eccentric, disciplined, shy, cantankerous, loyal, stubborn, autocratic, self-deprecating, demanding, kind-hearted, stern, playful, opinionated, gentle--all these contradictory adjectives aptly apply to legendary lexicographer Henry Watson Fowler, along with one more:
	(book review) The Mail on Sunday (London, England) ; Byline: ALICE FOWLER In 1898, a Yorkshire schoolteacher wrote to resign his post. He had, he explained, a 'perfectly friendly, but irreconcilable difference of opinion'. As a non-Christian, he was unable to prepare his pupils for confirmation; without this, he would never be eligible for promotion.
	Word perfect; books. The Mail on Sunday (London, England) ; Byline: ALICE FOWLER In 1898, a Yorkshire schoolteacher wrote to resign his post. He had, he explained, a 'perfectly friendly, but irreconcilable difference of opinion'. As a non-Christian, he was unable to prepare his pupils for confirmation; without this, he would never be eligible for promotion.
	THE WARDEN OF ENGLISH The Life ... The Washington Post ; ... ago, Dr. Bergen Evans, a noted authority on language usage and etymology, presented a weekly radio program called "Words in the News." For a half an hour each Thursday night he would discourse on new coinages he had noticed in Time, Newsweek or one of the major ...

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