which (4).
Today: “And which”; but which.”
To use either expression properly, a nonrestrictive “which”-clause parallel to the “and which” or “but which” must come first. E.g.: “Sutherland could have vetoed the $526 million budget, which he drafted this fall and which the council rewrote last month.” Lisa Kremer, “Pierce Budget Won’t Get Sutherland’s Signature,” News Trib. (Tacoma), 9 Dec. 1997, at B1. Without the preceding “which,” the “and which” puts the reader at sea — e.g.:
o “Eisner still has a huge chunk of stock options — about 8.7 million shares’ worth — that he can’t exercise yet and which will presumably increase in value over the next decade.” “Stock Options Give Eisner Record $565 Million Payday,” Newsday (N.Y.), 5 Dec. 1997, at A79. (Change “and which” to “and that” so that the two relative clauses are parallel.)
o “He gladly revealed that Philadelphia — the city where he attended art school “and which” he has long criticized as bleak, cruel and gruesome — is his greatest influence.” Samara Kalk, “Direct, but Not to the Point,” Wis. State J., 18 Dec. 1997, at A1. (A possible revision: “He gladly revealed that Philadelphia (where he attended art school) — a city he has long criticized as bleak, cruel, and gruesome — is his greatest influence.”)
o “How else to account for the explosive story Kirkham told the Voice from his cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn — and which he repeated in a ‘Dear Judge’ letter he says he sent to Johnson.” Frank Owen, “Club Buster,” Village Voice, 30 Dec. 1997, at 49. (Insert “that” after “story” and change “and which” to “and that.”)
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Quotation of the Day: “The best expository prose and the best persuasive prose are usually that hardest of all prose to write, the prose that disappears so that only the ideas show through.” Kenneth G. Wilson, Van Winkle’s Return 175 (1987).
