H.W. Fowler and the History of an Error By Jon N. Hall October 7, 2019 For the last century or so, language experts have been having a hard time with the conjunction “nor.” For example, in his entry for NOR in The Penguin Dictionary of American English Usage and Style (2000), Paul W. Lovinger considers a perfectly grammatical construction, which he even admits “some grammarians would condone,” but still advises: “ Change ‘nor’ to or . ” What, pray, is wrong with “nor”? Lovinger never really explains. But he might try to understand how “nor” and “or” actually function and what they specify, for he also writes: “ Nor , like or , links alternatives.” Not so. The word “ alternative ” indicates choice. “Nor,” however, does not link choices; it links things which are all excluded, denied, disallowed, or negated. In the online Oxford English Dictionary , the fourth selection in the entry for NOR has this quote by W. E. Gladstone: “Not a vessel, nor a gun, nor a man, were on...