James Joyce would make revised editions of his books which were just his taking out 30 commas. Later, he’d go back and put commas in.

Some people hate commas. I think those people have something wrong with them. Seriously, dude. Commas rule; as do semicolons.

Anyway, I do the same with emphasis. I loved bold for awhile. Then I went to italics. But I often go back and take it all out. And then put it back in. And then out again. It’s supposed to be bad. Except in all the places when we use it.

Most grammar rules are more intuitive than static. English evolves. So do our expectations. And evolution leads to revisiting old ideas. So I revise. And choose to emphasize (or not).

But rules aren’t just made or made to be broken. They are made with the knowledge that they aren’t always true. Or always helpful.

[Except the Oxford comma. That junk saves lives. But yes, even that has cases when it isn’t just unnecessary, but unwise. I presume.]

The only grammar rule I believe in 100% is to not believe in any of them 100%. And the good news is, given our behavior, none of us does. Or do.