Either way, what ever is the English usage or its rules, one can't help but feel there is something right, some truth in Ian Stewart's proof. Perhaps with some omission, he has really proven something. Following is an attempt to distill the proof to an unambiguous framework. Out of these symbols, collectively known as tatters , we are allowed to form strings. As usual, not all strings are equal.
Some strings are better than others.
The good ones are collectively called tords with a strange sounding word tord reserved for individual good strings. No string may be a tord unless it contains at least one trowel. A sequence of tords is called a truss iff any two consecutive tords differ by a single tatter. A truss is said to traject its extreme tords. Theorem Let there be two tords with the same number of tatters.