H. W. Fowler’s “Dictionary of Modern English Usage” is a popular grammar book originally published in 1926.  It is often simply referred to as “Fowler’s” and is a popular guide for those offering editing services.

Oxford English grammar

Fowler was a graduate of Balliol College, Oxford. After university he taught at Sedbergh School in Cumbria for 17 years.  He resigned after being passed over for promotion and age 41 he began to scrape a living in his new role as an essayist in London.  The lack of funds may not have bothered Fowler too much.  He was a man of simple habits, liking austerity and routine.

A successful grammar book

Fowler’s “Modern English Usage” was a great success when it was first published. Fowler was passionate about grammar and writing English correctly, but instead of restricting his readers with fussy rules he gave them sensible advice.  He elevated communication above the rules of grammar.  For example, a split infinitive may be technically incorrect, but if correct usage meant that a sentence was harder to understand Fowler told his readers to go ahead and split the infinitive!  He pushed aside any grammatical rules that made meaning obscure.

Grammar rules and common sense

The reason for the book’s popularity at the time of publication was this common sense approach, coupled with the author’s own personality shining through in his writing.

A dictionary of grammar checks

Despite the word “Dictionary” in the full title, “Modern English Usage” is not what you expect from a standard dictionary.  Sometimes Fowler’s entries were just a few lines long, but other sections are made up of whole essays on particular points of English writing.  Curiously, the titles of the essays in the book don’t always help you understand what the topic is going to be.

Grammar and editing

Although there are segments of “Modern English Usage” that have needed revision after over 80 years in print, it is still a useful reference text.  Any present day writer compiling this sort of book would devote pages to the explosion in technological writing and online writing conventions that now cause us confusion, but despite it having been written so long ago, Fowler’s remains a popular book for proofreading tips or grammar advice.

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