At Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:16:57 -0000, Adrian Farrel wrote: > > >> In converting what is now RFC 1716 to RFC 1812, which was a HUGE > >> editing task, I used a brand new tool that is now a popular grammar > >> checker. It complained about "which" vs "that", which is neither here > >> nor there, > > > > Well, not quite. "That" is for defining relative clauses, and "which" > > for non-defining relative clauses. > > An interesting fact is that the RFC Editor process is particularly hot on > "that"/"which". This may be a function of the use of copyeditor function > since these folk tend to care about English usage and for them (and for me) > it *is* much more than "neither here nor there". It could even have an > impact on meaning in an RFC. This kind of grammar theead usually ends in tears. That said, the CMS is pretty wishy-washy on this: S 5.42 A distinction has traditionally been made between the relative pronouns which and that, the latter having been long regarded as introducing a restrictive clause and the former, a nonrestrictive one. Although the distinction is often disregarded in contemporary writing, the careful writer and editor should bear in mind that such indifference may result in misreading or uncertainty, as in the sentence below. Ambiguous: The report which Marshall had tried to suppress was greeted with hilarity. Which of the following is meant: The report, which Marshall had tried to suppress, was greated with hilarity. or The report that Marshally had tried to suppress was greeted with hilarity. When the commas intended to set off a nonrestrictive lcause are ommitted, perhaps with the purpose of using which restrictively, the reader may well wonder whether the omission was inadvertant. Some uncertainty will persist. The MLA handbook is even less prescriptive: S 3.2.2: "Note that some writers prefer to use which to introduce norestrictive clauses and that to introduce restrictive clauses". Given that the distinction between which and that is not universally observed and that our documents are intended to be consumed in part by those who are not native English speakers, ISTM that any case where the distinction between which and that is important to meaning would benefit from some rephrasing for increased clarity. -Ekr _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx http://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf