writers find the use of the generic he or his to rename indefinite antecedents limiting or offensive." The re-titled entry "They. He or She", in Chapter IV: Misused Words and Expressions, advises the writer to avoid an "unintentional emphasis on the masculine".

Components new to the fourth edition include a foreword by essayist and E. B. White stepson Roger Angell, a glossary, and an index. Five years later, the fourth edition text was re-published as The Elements of Style Illustrated (2005), with