And the Answer Is......

My answer to the College Board’s question (see above post) was (E) – no error. However,

Correct Answer: C

Here's Why:

The error in this sentence occurs at (C), where there is an improper idiom. In order to complete the “not only...but also” construction so that what follows “not only” is grammatically parallel to what follows “but also,” the word “but” should be changed to “but also because.”

I got it wrong because I had absorbed from the zeitgeist that insistence on strict constructions like “not only…but also” is passé. These days the ear controls: if it sounds right, then it is right.

It seems so Fifties to abide by language rules: now it’s okay to split infinitives, to have pronouns disagree with their antecedent nouns (use “they”, “he or she”, “she”, “s/he”, but not “he”), throw out parallel construction, use contractions and sentence fragments. What about conventions like writing out an acronym [e.g., Scholastic Aptitude Test (“SAT”)] when they’re introduced in a piece? Ha! LOL. And don’t get me started on what txtg has done to splg.

If the Educational Testing Service wants to enforce the old dicta, great, I can understand that moral universe. But, if language rules are enforced selectively according to principles that aren’t written down anywhere, the validity of the verbal, writing and English achievement tests will be called into further question.

Various elites in America used to set the rules in international finance and the Internet but have lost, or are about to lose, control. Next no one will be the final authority over the English language. Then (E)—no error will be the correct answer. © 2009 Stephen Yuen