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In no particular order:The classic little volume, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. The latest edition came out in 2000. I’ve had mine since my first year of university.I’m Canadian, so the Canadian Press Stylebook is another well-used volume on my desk. If I lived elsewhere, I’d own that country’s press style guide.The Chicago Manual of Style is a go-to reference book. I find that its examples are nicely laid out. It’s the one I use for editing formal documents that aren’t academic. I also like that I can refresh my memory of editing marks, for those rare authors and layout designers who still prefer me to send them edits on paper.The Associated Press Stylebook is another universal guide that helps with editing for content that is on the casual side. So much of the world’s English language content is generated in the United States that it’s a safe default editing decider.Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug is actually the first, great book on user experience (UX) design for the web. What he has to say about writing for the web still holds up - even more so, as we write for mobile devices.The Concise Oxford English Dictionary solves most spelling problems for UK documents.The Oxford Canadian English Dictionary is what I use when working on documents for Canadian government departments and crown corporations.I also have a Merriam-Webster dictionary handy to use for checking spelling when working on American documents.The American Psychological Association style book is invaluable when it comes to editing academic papers. I’m doing less academic work, mainly because I find that the jargon-heavy formality increasingly annoying.Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath is my favourite communications book. They are great writers, researchers and story tellers. I’ve bought and gifted at least a dozen copies of this book.

Why would that type of speech be considered ignorant? I’d be much obliged if we didn’t use the term “ignorant” — perhaps different, or non-standard.It seems that when Shakespeare couldn’t find the right word to express his point, even he made one up, sometimes by connecting existing ones. Shakespeare coined at least 1,700 words – a sudden understanding (it dawned on him), or to elbow out of the way; and whole words – farmhouse, eyeball, softhearted, and watchdog, for instance. Fully 10% of the words he used had never been heard before by his audience. Yet Shakespearean language is considered rich and his allusions universal.*The concept of standardized English itself was relatively new to most Americans before the Civil War, in any case.Ignorant — may imply a general condition or it may apply to a lack of knowledge or awareness of a particular thing.There were few, if any, educational standards at this time. The average length of the school term in 1860 was only five months. A typical school day ran from nine to four with an hour for recess and dinner at noon. The day often commenced with a scripture reading followed by a patriotic song. Most learning was done via rote memorization and recitation. Rural schools were often without formal grades and had no standard final examinations or report cards. Scholastic success was still given a showcase via exhibition bees and quizzes held for parents. Students demonstrated their expertise in spelling, arithmetic, geography, and history.In Connecticut (where N.W. was born), towns with eighty families were required to have a single school for young children that taught English grammar, reading, writing, geography, and arithmetic. Towns with 500 families added a school for older students that offered algebra, American history, geometry, and surveying. Places with larger populations offered study of the physical sciences—sometimes referred to as natural or revealed philosophy—and Greek and Latin. The subjects taught depended on the competency of the teacher and varied greatly from school to school.Gifted students could pass through the entire local system of schools by age fourteen or fifteen, but only the most affluent could move on to college or university. A foreign visitor to New England found that most men had a basic education that stressed reading and writing, but that few exhibited the fine formal education available in Europe.Original manuscript pages from Webster’s research. Calling his project a "federal language", Webster's dictionaries helped redefine Americanism in an era of highly flexible cultural identity.Americans read and used the language that they encountered when they opened their Bibles and worshiped in their churches. This unique and often overlooked American tradition of writing “in the style of antiquity” opens a window onto a lost American world of biblical imagery. American authors, thereafter, reverted to this pseudo-biblical language and more clearly to its accompanying structures, forms, and cadences when discussing their difficulties and representing their grievances, past and present.The school reformers and educational advocates of the 1840s were mostly Northerner Protestants — largely split between the Geneva and King James bible versions. In 1807, Noah Webster had started two decades of intensive work to create a fully comprehensive dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. Webster hoped to standardize American speech, since Americans in different parts of the country used somewhat different vocabularies and spelled, pronounced, and used words differently. Southern and frontier usage was largely ignored. He also believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex, so his dictionary introduced American English formulations. Cultural conservatives denounced the work as radical—too inclusive in its lexicon and even bordering on vulgar. Others labeled him mad for undertaking such a project.His blue-backed spelling book taught generations of American children how to spell and read without reliance on the biblical forms, thereby further secularizing their education. Previously, spelling, syntax, and sentence formulations mimicked the Bible — depending on which bible version was chosen. This is why we have differences in spellings such as “Color” v “Colour” and “utilized” v “utilised”. The speller has been called “a secular catechism to the nation-state.”[i]He arrived at his forms and spellings by polling his acquaintances among the upper classes of society. “ How would you say …” Or “How would you spell …” Not all parts of the country were equally represented. He identified the result as a “federal language.” At the age of 70 in 1828, Webster published his dictionary; it immediately sold 2,500 copies. In 1840, an expanded edition was published in two volumes. In 1843, George and Charles Merriam secured the publishing and revision rights to the dictionary. They published a definitive revision with illustrations in 1859.A Harper's Weekly conception of a nineteenth century urban public school with its large class size, single gender, and straight lines of desks screwed to the floor. The seated adults are visiting representatives of the school board.The concept of free public education for whites was framed by educational leaders such as Horace Mann and Henry Barnard and became well established in principle by the Civil War. Although some Northern areas required larger cities to establish high schools, most people felt that this was a form of higher education and should not be part of the legal public school system. By 1860 there were 300 high schools in all the United States, 100 of which were in Massachusetts. Public education came into practice in most of the nation with the Northern cities leading the way. They saw education as a vehicle to “Americanize” immigrant, Native American, and Black children.“I reckon” that explains it.*Further discussion:https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/558355/Ramnanan_georgetown_0076M_12067.pdf?sequence=1Language (as generally used) has been undergoing a simplification as more and more of the population becomes “literate”. In Elizabethan times (ca. 1550 –1600), the average sentence was 50 words long, twice the length of those in the 1880s. Yet Shakespeare’s original market audience was both the upper classes and illiterate peasants. Modern observers and students may see Shakespeare’s language as too intricate and distant from them, but they may not realize that they actually use his words on a daily basis. The bard’s combined written works totaled 25,000 unique words compared to the Wall Street Journal which used less than 20,000 unique words in its newspapers for a decade.In the United States and United Kingdom, the common age when students are introduced to Shakespeare varies by state and school; however, the average student will meet Shakespeare in 9th grade (freshman year of US high school) when students are approximately fourteen years of age — usually with Romeo and Juliet. Yet almost half the students find the author’s language hard to understand. Studies show that a majority of high school students, despite creative teaching methods, see his works as irrelevant, difficult, and boring. It may be that they are not able to experience Shakespeare as he would have wanted because of the stress surrounding the heightened demand for performing well on a test and the unwarranted dissection of every word and line. Shakespeare was to be experienced, not dissected. Hence the popularity, in its time, of the film West Side Story — a virtual rip off of R&J.In the 1930s, researchers found that one-half of the adult population at that time lacked suitable reading materials as the average reading level of published material was at the 8th grade level but the readership was at 6th grade (US). Other researchers have found that as the technical aspect of the material increases comprehension at any level decreases. An article on the development of nylon (43%) as compared to one on Corn (60%). They also found that an easier reading style helps to decide how much of an article is read. This was called reading persistence, depth, or perseverance.Most of the general public today reads, writes, and speaks at a 6th Grade (US) level, and they function quite well. Most media sources today attempt to strike the right balance with their sentence lengths, forms, vocabulary, etc. Using short sentences all the time would make their writers sound robotic, but overly long and complicated ones may lose coherence for some readers / listeners. Why is newspaper readability important?Many modern media sources provide information at the sixth grade level reading — few beyond grade school. The news outlet that stands out as being the least readable is the New York Times. This doesn’t mean the writing is qualitatively bad. Rather the writing style at NYT is several reading grades above the general public reading level. A careful analysis of tests taken by one million respondents via social media showed that U.S. native English speakers have acquired a vocabulary of 42,000 words at age 20 and about 48,000 words by age 60. How Many Words Does the Average Person Know? – Word CounterNote; Cloze tests require the ability to understand context and vocabulary in order to identify the correct language or part of speech that belongs but has been deleted in certain passages.[i] Joseph Ellis, After the Revolution: Profiles of Early American Culture (New York: W.W. Norton, 1979), 175.See:Amazon.com: Antebellum America, Cultural Connections through History, 1820 – 1860 (Traditional American History Series Book 10) eBook: Volo, James M.: Kindle Store

It angered us for several reasons:Killing thousands of completely innocent people by deliberately flying planes into them is wrongIt felt quite close to home in that we are so similar to the states in terms of religion and popular culture etcBritish people were among the dead, 67 British citizens according to a quick google.UK nationals kill in 9/11:1. Sarah Ali, 35, from Balham, south west London, was at a conference on the 106th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Centre.2. Andrew Joseph Bailey, 29, married with an eight-year-old daughter, was originally from Birmingham. He worked as a security supervisor for insurance brokers Marsh and McLellan on the 93rd floor of the north tower and lived and worked in New York.3. Michele Beale, 37, a director with London-based Risk Waters, was attending a conference at the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11.4. Jane Beatty.5. Oliver Bennett, 32, was a journalist with Risk Waters publishers.6. Graham Berkeley, 37, an IT consultant, whose parents live in Shrewsbury, was on board the United Airlines flight which plunged into the World Trade Centre's south tower.7. Paul Gary Bristow, 27, a publisher for Risk Waters group, was at a seminar in the Windows on the World restaurant on the 106th floor.8. Geoffrey Thomas Campbell, 31, a Reuters employee from Great Billing, Northamptonshire, who had been due to take part in a conference hosted by English publishing company Risk Waters Group, in the World Trade Centre.9. Jeremy Mark Carrington, 34, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the WTC's north tower. Brought up in Essex, he moved to New York 12 years ago, where he met his wife, Pattie. Jeremy had survived the 1993 WTC bombing. His mother, Catherine Ross, lives in Gillingham, Dorset.10. Suria Clarke, 30, was working in the towers. Her brother Tom is from London.11. Neil James Cudmore, 38, worked in the advertising department of a financial journal. He was believed to have been planning to marry colleague and fellow victim Dinah Webster.12. Michael Joseph Cunningham, 39, originally from Ilford, Essex, was a broker for Eurobrokers in the South Tower. He lived in Princeton, New Jersey, with his wife Teresa, 35. His son Liam was 13 days old when the jets hit the World Trade Centre.13. Gavin Anthony Cushny, 48, of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. He was working as computer consultant for Cantor Fitzgerald on 104th floor of the north tower.14. Caleb Arron Dack.15. Anthony Richard Dawson, of Southampton, had been attending a convention in one of the towers when the second plane struck.16. Calvin Dawson.17. Kevin Dennis, 43, a stockbroker, who lived in St John's Wood, north London, before he moved to New York to work for Cantor Fitzgerald. He had been on the 101st floor of the north tower of World Trade Centre.18. Melanie Louise Devere. The 30-year-old publishing assistant with Risk Waters grew up in Hayling Island, Hants, before moving to London.19. Richard Anthony Dunstan.20. Michael Egan, 51, the Hull-born vice president of multinational insurance company AON, is believed to have died as he helped colleagues escape from the south tower.21. Christine Egan, 55, a nurse working in Canada, was visiting her brother's office while on a week-long holiday in New York.22. Robert Eaton, 37, a Cantor Fitzgerald broker, believed to have been working on the 105th floor of the north tower.23. Godwin Forde, 38, a security guard for Morgan Stanley, was at work on the 42nd floor of the south tower.24. Christopher Forsythe.25. Boyd Gatton.26. Andrew Clive Gilbert, in his thirties, originally from Ipswich, worked at the World Trade Centre.27. Timothy Paul Gilbert, like his brother Andrew, was also in his thirties and working at the World Trade Centre. The brothers had been living and working in New York for some time.28. Paul Gilbey, from Southend-on-Sea, a money trader with Euro Bank, worked on the 84th floor of the south tower. He and his wife had moved to the US eight years before the terrorist strike.29. Ronald Lawrence Gilligan, 43, from Merseyside, is thought to have been behind his 103rd-floor desk at Cantor Fitzgerald when disaster struck.30. Robert Halligan, originally from Kent.31. Nicholas John, a 33-year-old banker from Swansea, had been due to attend a meeting at the World Trade Centre.32. Christopher Jones.33. Robin Blair Larkey, 48, from Surrey, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. He left a wife and three young sons.34. Steven Lawn, 29, from Broadstairs, Kent, moved to New York three years ago to work as a money dealer. He was on the 91st floor of the south tower. Parents John and Angela had just retired after running the family newsagents for 35 years.35. Leon Lebor.36. Michael William Lomax, 37, from Heaton Moor, Stockport, was working on the 93rd floor of the south tower when it was hit by one of the planes.37. Mark Ludvigsen, was an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald.38. Gavin MacMahon, 35, from County Durham, was working as an insurance executive on the 99th floor of one of the World Trade Centre towers.39. Simon Percy Maddison, 40, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. Lived with wife Maureen and three children in New Jersey. Originally from Harlow, Essex.40. Keithroy Maynard.41. Colin McArthur, 52, from Scotland, was vice-president of insurance company Aon Inc.42. Christina Sheila McNulty.43. John Moran.44. Stephen Philip Morris, 31, whose parents live in Nantglyn, near Denbigh in Clwyd. He worked for a finance company in the World Trade Centre.45. Alex Napier.46. Marcus Neblett.47. Christopher Newton-Carter, 52, from London, was an associate director for banker Sandley O'Neill. He was six floors from the top when the second plane plunged into his building.48. Avnish Raman Patel, worked on the 93rd floor of the north tower of the World Trade Centre as a financial analyst with Fred Alger Management. Mr Patel, a single 28-year-old whose parents live in Clapham, south London, had lived in the US since he was 13.49. Hashmukh Parmar.50. David Alan James Rathkey, 47, from Maidenhead, Berks, was working on the 83rd floor of the North Tower. The father-of-three was a systems consultant who was married to an American and had lived in the country for 20 years.51. Sarah Anne Redheffer, 35, from Enfield, north London, was working for Risk Waters on the 106th floor of the north tower when the first jet struck.52. Rick Rescorla, 62, born in Hayle, Cornwall, was vice president for security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. He was helping his colleagues flee the World Trade Centre's south tower.53. Karlie Rogers, 25, a Sussex University graduate from London, worked for Risk Waters publishers.54. Howard Selwyn, 47, from Leeds, was told to evacuate the south tower while on the phone to a colleague at his desk on the 84th floor.55. Jane Simpkin.56. Michael Stewart, 42, a banker, from Belfast.57. Derek Sword, 29, from Dundee, was working for American finance firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods when the second jet went into the south tower.58. Rhondell Tankard.59. Ian Clive Thompson, 43, was born in Hampshire.60. Nigel Bruce Thompson, 30, from Sheffield, was working on the 105th floor of the twin towers for brokers Cantor Fitzgerald.61. Simon James Turner, 39, was among seven other British employees working at the technology conference in the quarter mile-high building.62. Benjamin James Walker, 41, was on the 91st floor of the north tower, working for Marsh McClennan insurance brokers. He had moved to New York five years ago from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire. He left an American wife, Laura, and three children.63. Dinah Webster, 50, was attending a conference on the 109th floor of the south tower. She and fellow victim Neil Cudmore worked in the advertising department of a financial journal.64. Vincent Wells, 22, from Ilford, Essex, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald.65. Kathryn Wolf.66. Martin Wortley, 29, from Woolpit, Suffolk, was working as a dealer with Cantor Fitzgerald.67. Neil Robin Wright, 30, an options broker from Tilbury, Essex, was also in the offices of Cantor Fitzgerald when the building was struck.