Lucky Dip

Useful Information No 2: And Another Thing ...

Are you one of those unfortunates who was taught at school that it is incorrect to begin a sentence
with ‘and’ or ‘but’?

If you are, you will be delighted to learn that such usage is not incorrect after all.

Or, sadly and more probably, you will squirm with irritation and impatience at the idea that this
rule, much loved, so easily learned and applied, has been called into question. You are likely to be
of a certain age: a member of the Silent Generation (born 1928 to 1945), the Baby Boomers (1946
to 1964), or Generation X (1965 to 1980). You are unaware that, of the thirty-one verses in the
King James version of Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis, twenty-nine begin with ‘and’; or, if you
are aware, you dismiss the lapse as being acceptable usage for those times. If you are told that Nobel prizewinners Rudyard Kipling, William Faulkner and Winston Churchill began sentences with ‘and’ and ‘but’, you will respond by declaring that great writers are not bound by the rules that others must abide by. If you are told that the first leader in today’s The Times contains sentences beginning with ‘and’ and ‘but’, you will accept the usage as journalistic licence.

Where did the rule come from? “My English teacher taught me that it was wrong…” And who taught that English teacher? Probably, his or her English teacher. And who taught that teacher…?