When I gave a workshop on usage guides and old usage problems for TeamWork earlier this year, Marcel Lemmens, one of the organisers, presented me with a copy of his recently published writing manual called Als je BGRPT wat ik BDL (“If you NDRSTND what I MN”). I have just finished reading all 101 rules in the boek, and thought what a great idea it would be to follow up Robert Ilson’s suggestion for a project of cross-cultural prescriptivism. Because there are quite a few items in Lemmens’s writing guide that are very similar to those for English. As well as ones that are very different.

So is there anyone who is knowledgeable enough in both English and Dutch as well as interested in comparative prescriptivism to take such a project on? I’d be happy to be involved.