the Greater Nomadic Council

That Which is That Which is That

Alas, dear readers, our slumbering blog must continue its rest awhile longer. I know that two of our contributers are still busy with school—one finishing his already late thesis, the other dealing with finals—and I, unfortunately, am occupied editing articles for an upcoming Festschrift for a renowned medievalist. I find it interesting that even a firmly-ensconced academic, who shall remain unnamed, with a towering reputation and an otherwise lucid prose style fails to understand the grammatical distinction between the restrictive "that" and the nonrestrictive "which." As Strunk and White write: "The careful writer, watchful for small conveniences, goes which-hunting, removes the defining whiches, and by so doing improves his work." Of course, given the horrid condition of some manuscripts, those that only err in this one small matter are a welcome respite. Even worse than the prose, however, are the notes. Invariably, regardless of author, they are a mess. They lack key information like place of publication or page number; they fail to conform to the publisher's preferred style or, sometimes, any style whatsoever; and they are riddled with typographical errors. Well-heeled notes and grammar are points of pride for me in every paper I write. I suppose that's simply a result of my status as neophyte. Maybe once and if I ever finish and get a job, then I can stop worrying about such things, thus causing another poor editorial assistant the same headaches I now experience.