Listen, I love the English language as much as the next red-blooded American. A waiter’s improper conjugation and tense use can ruin a message for me, just like it can you. But if there’s any grammatical rule that has forced me to rethink my religious insistence on word choice, it’s this one:
This of course begs the question, does a dictionary editor have the authority to say this with any conclusiveness? I can’t be sure. But I do know that, for some time, I have been thinking exactly what she is saying. Gaudy word rearrangement for the sake of what terminates a sentence feels and sounds just filthy. I have even caught myself trying to sentence-smith away from ending with “too”, which is not a preposition, by switching “she has one, too'’ into “she has one, also” and for what? Nothing. Nothing at all.
Believe it or not, I once had this list memorized:
| 1. aboard 2. about 3. above 4. across 5. after 6. against 7. along 8. amid 9. among 10. anti 11. around 12. as 13. at 14. before 15. behind 16. below 17. beneath 18. beside 19. besides 20. between 21. beyond 22. but 23. by 24. concerning 25. considering | 26. despite 27. down 28. during 29. except 30. excepting 31. excluding 32. following 33. for 34. from 35. in 36. inside 37. into 38. like 39. minus 40. near 41. of 42. off 43. on 44. onto 45. opposite 46. outside 47. over 48. past 49. per 50. plus | 51. regarding 52. round 53. save 54. since 55. than 56. through 57. to 58. toward 59. towards 60. under 61. underneath 62. unlike 63. until 64. up 65. upon 66. versus 67. via 68. with 69. within 70. without |
Best of luck!