I don't understand what's wrong with the <strong> tag and I want to discuss it here...
<span class="highlight">?
I'd much rather use <strong>.
Perhaps the author feels that only <em> should be used to place "emphasis" on the text in question, and that it should also be used instead of <strong> as strong doesn't give as clear an impression of importance as <em>.
I think you are just fine using <strong> in places where it is appropriate.
That's a pretty weird take on it, given <strong> is supposed to put a stronger emphasis than <em>.
What would be used instead of <strong>, nested <em>s?
You are right about that. I suppose I was just speculating on why the author was including <strong> as a no no. That the thought of "I am 'stronging' this text" didn't indicate significance to him while "I am 'emphasizing' this text" related significance to him. In which case, <strong> would seem like just another name for <bold> while not denoting importance.
I myself did not clearly understand that <strong> was actually more "powerful" than <em>. I appreciate you clearly stating the relationship between <strong> and <em>.
No problem. It's pretty much lifted straight from the HTML4 spec:
> EM: > Indicates emphasis. > STRONG: > Indicates stronger emphasis.
There's a lot of fun stuff in that spec, I don't regret having read it (almost) completely once a long time ago.