THE REASON WHY: We have no
British staff members at the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired. Their version of English has become too
different. For all our slang and world
dominance, American English has remained rather conservative, while the Mother
Tongue has evolved a bewildering variety of dialects and slang vocabularies,
and, most important here, has rather looser and less consistent rules of
grammar and usage.
For instance, the English regarded try and with a lazy wave of the hand perhaps a century ago, and it
has gradually supplanted the proper try to, even in this country.
Eats, Shoots, and
Leaves provides another handful of instances. In this best-selling grammar and usage guide of a few years ago,
the British author not only lays down rules plainly wrong by our standards, but
she also doesn't consistently follow some of her own rules.
This brings us to the
reason why. What is so unclear
about, say, "And here's the reason"?
Think about what the reason means: the root cause; the why, so to
speak. The reason why is redundant, like future plans, and using redundancies is the mark of a careless,
sloppy writer or speaker.
By saying this, I indict some great writers, first British,
such as Rudyard Kipling, and later Americans who affected British usage, such
as Hemingway and Fitzgerald. So be
it. They could make mistakes like the
rest of us. Shakespeare occasionally
used double negatives. Pointing to them
as models is like using at Danica Patrick as a guide to normal hughway driving.
The same goes for the
reason is because. This is as
redundant as toxic pollution, and
certainly pollutes clear language.
When a little pig named Wilbur is destined for the butcher's block, some unlikely friends step in to save his life. In adventure after adventure, the animals, insects and children in E.B. White's classic story, Charlotte's Web, prove that a healthy dose of imagination and determination make anything possible. Charlotte's Web performs at the Hangar Theatre as part of the KIDDSTUFF Season from August 6th through the 9th at 10 am and 12-noon each day. Joseph Robinette's adaptation for the stage is a must-see production the entire family will fall in love with.
Wilbur realizes what great friends he has when his barnyard companions, especially one living high in the barn's pillars, spin a plan to save Wilbur's life and make him famous over night. Charlotte's Web is a remarkable story about true friendship, loyalty, and the cycle of life.
The CRS Barn Studio will present Moving Landscapes: An Evening of Dance and Music on Saturday, a captivating original choreography and live music in a magical setting., on August 16 at 8:00PM. The single performance takes place at the CRS Barn Studio, 2622 North Triphammer Road in Ithaca.
ITHACA, NY - The Sciencenter will open more than a dozen new hands-on exhibits in the museum's outdoor Emerson Science Park on Saturday, August 16.
On "Outdoor Galore" opening day, the Sciencenter will unveil the "Sciencenter Falls," an interactive waterfall with a stream bed. At 2 p.m., Sciencenter educator John Alvarez del Castillo will share techniques for growing miniature water gardens. Kids can take home a water plant to start their own garden.
Cousins Sasha Stetler, age 5, and Ella Sheidley, age 4, explore water flow at the new Sciencenter Falls exhibit by building a dam with blocks and sculpting the sandy streambed.
Archive Entertainment 
When a little pig named Wilbur is destined for the butcher's block, some unlikely friends step in to save his life. In adventure after adventure, the animals, insects and children in E.B. White's classic story, Charlotte's Web, prove that a healthy dose of imagination and determination make anything possible. Charlotte's Web performs at the Hangar Theatre as part of the KIDDSTUFF Season from August 6th through the 9th at 10 am and 12-noon each day. Joseph Robinette's adaptation for the stage is a must-see production the entire family will fall in love with.
