Murky Whether
Whether (or not)
There are writers and editors and teachers out there whose blood boils when they see "or not" after seeing "whether." In fact, "or not" is never wrong; the phrase simply expresses the negative alternative of whatever we're talking about. But it definitely should go when it's just extra words -- constructions like "She wouldn't say whether or not she would run," or "He asked whether or not the ship was sinking." In each case, the alternative represented by "or not," though implicit, is inescapable.

At times, though, balance, euphony and even logic demand "or not" or something else to specify the alternative outcome. On the logic front, the great John B. Bremner noted in his classic Words on Words that the little word "if" can be used to test the need for "or not." It means one thing, he noted, to say, "I'll love you whether or not you leave me," and quite another to say, "I'll love you if you leave me." We need "whether or not" to convey the full thought.

More subtly, this sentence needed something to complete -- balance -- the thought that "whether" began: "Whether the jawboning and billions of dollars in foreign-exchange intervention succeed in propping up the yen, they will almost certainly succeed in propping up Mr. Hashimoto." The thought imbedded in "whether" drops off a cliff; the sentence has to say explicitly that a failure to prop up the yen would not topple Hashimoto (as it happened, he toppled). One way to make the alternative clear would be to add "or fail" after "succeed." Easier still, we could start with "Whether or not."

Addendum, 3/5/99

A perfect example of a sentence that did not need "or not": "...Mr. Starr must decide whether or not he should seek the indictment of the president." The phrase contributes nothing to the sense or the sound.

Elegant, Shmelegant
Elegant Variation
An article mentioned "a letter that Tripp wrote Newsweek back in August after the Willey story first appeared," and continued, "In her missive, Tripp . . ." Another, after mentioning a "letter to the editor" in one paragraph, continued, "His missive inspired a second letter to the editor . . ." Still another reported on " . . . a pointed, important May 8 letter to Dombeck. The missive also was signed . . ."

"Missive," meaning a communication, is often a stilted word. It has its uses (usually humorous) but none of our examples qualifies; each simply substitutes the word for the innocuous "letter."

And that is the writing crime of (shudder!) elegant variation — straining conspicuously to avoid totally inoffensive repetition. A classic cliché example is "wet, white stuff" to avoid "snow." Less shopworn, but no less offensive, was the caption that mentioned "beef sandwiches" and followed up with "savory treats."

In his Dictionary of Modern English Usage, the great H.W. Fowler declared of elegant variation, "There are few literary faults so widely prevalent, and this book will not have been written in vain if the present article should heal any sufferer of his infirmity." Here's to our good health. (CJR, Sept/Oct 98)

It Should Usually Be Early
Adverb Placement
Two schools of thought seem to exist on the placement of adverbs with compound verbs. One is easy: just stick it in front of the verb and be done with it. "He always has been a little slow," say, or "She frequently will disagree" or "That train habitually has run late." The other approach, subscribed to here, is that the adverb works more mellifluosly after the first part of the compound verb. Usually. So it would be "He has always..." and "She will frequently..." and "That train has habitually..." But it's a rough rule, and it was followed out the window here: "As he has labored to fill his outsized war chest, the governor has, like everyone else, had to endure his share of negative publicity." Splittng "has" and "had" that way is ugly. Make it natural: "...the governor, like everyone else, has had to ..."

In Transition
Transition; "As Such"
Transitional words and phrases are often necessary, but not as often as we use them. The exhausted "meanwhile," the slightly haughty "indeed," the currently fashionable, pince-nez professorial "to be sure" sometimes arise from unexamined reflex, not sense.

And sometimes when knee jerks, foot lands in mouth. It did in the unthinking reach for transition here: "After all, an independent Chronicle, with no Examiner to carry, would be much more profitable. As such, there have been rumors for more than a decade about the Examiner's pending demise."

As such what? Nothing in the first sentence leads logically to "As such" in the second. The phrase needs preparation, a person or thing or characteristic to which it refers, as in "The cook was Dutch and behaved as such." If a transition was needed in our example (whether it was is at least arguable), then "For that reason" or "Consequently" or other things we can all imagine would have built one. "As such" was a misguided reflex; we need to stop and think. (CJR, July/Aug. 1998)