Strunkian attacked me again. I have been reading The Elements of Style, 4th Edition these days and been much impressed by the introduction written by E.B. White, the book's author and also a student of Strunk's. The introduction is like White's commemorative for Strunk. With many anecdotes vigorously told, White brought to us what kind of a man Strunk was. A funny kind, I suppose. Among all the anecdotes, I quoted here my favorite one.

He despised the expression student body, which he termed gruesome, and made a special trip downtown to the Alumni News office one day to protest the expression and suggest that studentry be substituted — a coinage of his own, which he felt was similar to citizenry. I am told that the News editor was so charmed by the visit, if not by the word, that he ordered the student body buried, never to rise again. Studentry has taken its place. It's not much of an improvement, but it does sound less cadaverous, and it made Will Strunk quite happy.

• See also Strunkian attacked me for the first time.