When grammar rules matter, and when they get in the way
summary
Presented at Write the Docs Portland 2020 virtual conference, the claim centers on choosing descriptivism over prescriptivism: keep style guides as a tool but prioritize clarity and inclusion, not policing dialects. Specific edits target context not people — examples include the old ban on starting sentences with conjunctions, debates over hopefully and literally, and treating AAVE as a valid dialect. The practical rule is: use rules to diagnose unclear sentences, not to exclude writers.
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