Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“The first virtue, the touchstone of a masculine style, is its use of the active verb and the concrete noun.”
- Source
- On the Art of Writing
- Date
- 1916
Meaning of “The first virtue, the touchstone of a masculine…”
Behind the dated gendered phrase, the practical craft advice is to prefer active verbs and concrete nouns when they make prose more direct and intelligible.
Where does it come from?
On the Art of Writing, Lecture V, “Interlude: On Jargon,” Project Gutenberg #17470. “Masculine style” is retained as period wording, not endorsed as a gender standard.
