But Can I Start a Sentence with "But"?

"A wonderful blend of substance and snark—both a useful reference and a fun (yes, fun) read."—Mignon Fogarty, New York Times-bestselling author of Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Q. Is it happy medium or happy median?

A. The idiom is happy medium, but I like the image of commuters taking refuge from road rage on the happy median.

Every month, tens of thousands of self-declared word nerds converge upon a single site: The Chicago Manual of Style Online's Q&A. There the Manuals editors open the mailbag and tackle readers' questions on topics ranging from abbreviation to word division to how to reform that coworker who still insists on two spaces between sentences.

Champions of common sense, the editors offer smart, direct, and occasionally tongue-in-cheek responses that have guided writers and settled arguments for more than fifteen years. But Can I Start a Sentence with But? brings together the best of the Chicago Style Q&A. Curated from years of entries, it features some of the most popular and hotly debated rulings, and also recovers old favorites long buried in the archives.

In addition, a foreword by Carol Fisher Saller, the Q&A's longtime editor, takes readers through the history of the Q&A and addresses its reputation for mischief. Taken together, the questions and answers offer insights into some of the most common issues that face anyone who works with words—touching on editorial style—capitalization, punctuation, alphabetizing, special characters—as well as grammar, usage, and beyond. It's a comforting reminder that even the best writer or editor needs a little help (and humor) sometimes.