Good language style is a respectable ambition. Let us look to our American English.
The dot
I call it the dot. I do not have it for a full stop; there is often much to follow. I do not have it for a period: I believe in the periodic table, but not in periodic writing. The dot is mostly rounded or square, but were it triangular or hexagonal, the sense for it always would be to give some frame to what there is written or spoken. It is never there to divide or terminate written or spoken thought.
One period could change the meaning of the Declaration of Independence, wrote ■Danielle Allen for The Washington Post. The period after pursuit of happiness leads us to disconnect the opening premise about individual rights from the argument for the positive value of good government and the all-important conclusion about altering governments that fail us. Ms. Allen’s vision for the Declaration would be more or less as here.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these Rights…
Ms. Allen adds, For all that we talk about “original” founding documents, when it comes to the Declaration of Independence at least, we’ve had multiple versions since the earliest days of the revolution.
Let us sort those. The National Archives display the original parchment, and the dot is there.
Source: National Archives
The conclusion is for the people to make “Free and Independent States, absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, with full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do.”
The argument might be, no dot could be there, as there is that to follow. We may yet compare:
We have now the honor to submit to the consideration of the United States in Congress assembled, that Constitution which has appeared to us the most advisable, says George Washington’s letter to the Continental Congress.
That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every State is not perhaps to be expected…
That the preceding constitution be laid before the United States in Congress assembled…That it is the opinion of this Convention…
In natural language there cannot be a principle to begin a sentence with a word or words, and likewise, there cannot be a natural principle to ban select vocabulary from sentence beginnings. Any advice can be only taste on style. The dot belongs with the original Declaration.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these Rights…
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A tale of counsel inspired with reading about Confucius
Honeybee said, it is precious, the reason to live and exist given us from Heavens to be intrinsic love in us all, in every human being. Agreeably to get along with this intelligent idea on Earth already — is in our best interest.
A more perfect life
I do not know if the style book to have made quite some career over the Internet should be truly blamed on the CIA. It is never every leak to deserve trust. It could not have been the CIA entire to attach to an “underbelly”, anyway.
“The Preamble to the US Constitution is out of bounds grammatically when it speaks of a more perfect Union, and, as the common saying puts it, a woman cannot be somewhat pregnant,” says the ■”leaked style book”.
The theory seems to be, some adjectives are absolute in their meaning; thus you do not gradate them: what is perfect cannot become more perfect; but, it could be in some mythic lands only, for a woman to feel in her third trimester just the same as in her first. On Earth, “a bit pregnant” or “more pregnant” are possible. There is gravitation.
The Founders needed a way with words, to .have the Constitution. To say you look for a “perfect union” after the War of Independence would have been like saying the people needed a beautician; and thus the Founders had the brilliant idea to seek a more perfect Union. Things were already quite perfect.
By the way, the Constitution can be viewed spellcheck clean ■here; it is grammatical entire.
“Submissiveness”
Source: CNN
Inside a safe room of the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, Ambassador Chris Stevens took cover with two other foreign service officers, says the ■CNN report on the assault. For Smith, the rescue came too late. He had already succumbed to smoke inhalation by the time they arrived, the report continues.
The embassy got attacked by an Islamist group. Two American diplomats died, ■J. Christopher Stevens and ■Sean Smith. Dramatic narrative might work for the context, but word sense wouldn’t play.
A tree might succumb to drought, a dam — under tidewater. Trees or dams are inanimate. For objects of thought that can move about, individual will may become ignored in a hunted animal.
The bull succumbed in 40 yards and yielded to the 400 grain Woodleigh bullet… — ■Patience, endurance, and plain hard work, by PH Jofie Lamprecht.
For a human being, succumbing is volitional surrender. Privation or loss of postural control are not willful relinquishment, could they be?
“Sacrifice”?
Source: American Heritage dictionary
Most had never heard the name Al Qaeda. And yet, it’s because of their sacrifice that we’ve come together and dealt a crippling blow to the organization that brought evil to our shores, said ■Barack Obama at Arlington about the victims of September 11.
They will endure in the hearts of our nation, because through their sacrifice, they helped us make the America we are today — an America that has emerged even stronger, said Barack Obama.
If we look up sacrifice with the ■Heritage Dictionary, we get An offering for the sake of something else, forfeiture, something sold at a financial loss — nothing to tell that the people who died in the Towers made a conscious resolve to give up their living on Earth.
“Effectness”?
Source: CNN
It’s a joint FBI-NYPD search for human remains, clothing, or personal effects, ■reported ABC News on the case of ■Etan Patz. New York police Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne was in SoHo to search Othneil Miller’s premises. The boy disappeared in 1979. In 2017, Pedro Hernandez was found guilty of the kidnapping and murder.
The phrase personal effects has become quite usual, but let us compare:
As to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness, says the Declaration.
For a human effect, the Declaration makes impression. Well, I am impressed; but most movies would show personal effects for a paper bag or a box to contain some tidbits of property.
The King of Scrounge, an American serviceman, has crammed his local apartment with enough salvaged paraphernalia to equip a battalion — says ■Merriam-Webster (Garry Trudeau, New York Times, 25 June 1991).
“Paraphernalia.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paraphernalia. Accessed 16 January 2020.
There is the Moby Thesaurus too.
https://moby-thesaurus.org/paraphernalia
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