ABSTRACT
This chapter is about ‘style’, and the verbal hygiene practices in which it is institutionalized. The idea of style as institutional may at first seem counterintuitive, for we think of style as personal, as the linguistic hallmark of a particular individual (‘Hemingway’s style’ or ‘Jane Austen’s style’). Yet outside the realms of great literature it is evident that style means something rather different, something less about individuality than conformity to rules. As Simon Jenkins, formerly editor of The Times newspaper, reminded his staff in 1992, ‘Great writing may break rules, but good writing does well to observe them’ (The Times 1992: 5).2 But what are the rules for ‘good writing’, and who makes them? What is the source of their authority and influence?
