Manual On Usage, Style & Editing, 9th Edition

Introduction to the Ninth Edition:

The Manual on Usage, Style & Editing has never pretended to serve as an exhaustive grammatical guide or the final word on legal style. That field is better left to those who can occupy it with more authority. It has, however, always been intended to serve as a convenient and accessible reference tool?a pocket-sized supplement to heftier tomes on usage. It is with this purpose in mind that the Texas Law Review issues this ninth edition. The bulk of the changes accordingly reflect an effort to bring the Manual in line with standard authorities in the field.

The most obvious change in the ninth edition is the name. This change reflects the addition of a new chapter on editing. Other changes include a chart of proofreader's marks, a longer list of commonly misused words, and a general effort to simplify and update existing rules. This edition also abandons the previous division of the Manual into Rules of Style and Rules of Usage. Finally, many of the rules have been drafted permissively so as to leave writers with as much freedom as possible within the outer limits of sound grammar.

A Note From the 2002 "MoUSE" Committee wishes to thank Bryan Garner for his generous editorial assistance and advise.