LETTER : Language purity and pedantry
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Your support makes all the difference.From Mr Christopher Bamber
Sir: I wonder if Barney Prendergast (letter, 12 February) would regard Sir Ernest Gowers as a "trendy" defender of the "slipshod"?
Over 30 years ago Gowers' revision of Fowler's Modern English Usage (the only edition I have, and I make no apology for that) stated:
"That (different) can only be followed by from and not by to is a SUPERSTITION" [original emphases].
Pedantry should not always be condemned; but Mr Prendergast should make sure that his is more securely based.
Yours faithfully,
Christopher Bamber
Betley, Staffordshire
12 February
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