"incorrect" possessive pronouns

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Oct 21, 2004, at 6:55 PM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> On Thu, Oct 21, 2004 at 06:18:02PM -0700, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote:
>
> [MWDEU]
>
>> it too was a group project, and a good thing too; the world has far
>> too
>> many usage dictionaries that express a very personal and unique take
>> on
>> things.
>
> Without denying that many people contributed to this work, we should
> give due credit to Ward Gilman, the guiding force behind it, whose
> very personal and unique take, and his great wit, suffuse the book.
> The modesty of the book's lack of stated authorship should not cause
> us to overlook his overwhelming contribution to it.

gilman and his collaborators managed to provide authoritative but
balanced opinion, and his voice resonates most clearly of all -- i
assume, every time MWDEU expresses a wry or caustic opinion.  but the
book isn't at all just some working out of his pet peeves and
favorites; it's full of scholarship of the sort no one person could
manage.

so it's not some bland committee thing, but it's also not some grand
thinking-it-all-up-from-the-ground fresh construction.  undoubtedly
that's a reflection of gilman's personality -- for which we all owe him
thanks, however posthumously.  (he seems to have gone to some trouble
to conceal his role in the book, by the way.)

arnold, noting the great google paucity of hits on "e. ward gilman"