Take that, grammar nazis
I have a lot to say about grammar, and our need to mellow out about grammar rules. But for now, since I'm really busy, I'll let the Cavalry Guy do it for me...
Friday, October 22, 2004
NO SANE MAN CARES ABOUT SUCH THINGS
Some people in the comments were discussing whether you can end a sentence with a preposition. Of course you can; who says you can’t? Some meddling parson called Robert Lowth made up these rules in the 18th century, but his rules are not true. Otherwise "people worth talking to" must become "people with whom it is worthwhile to talk". You'd need to be a real horse's arse to talk like that.
(See Fowler).
And there is no such thing as a split infinitive. "To" is not part of the infinitive, any more than the article is part of a noun. If "to boldly go" is a split infinitive, then "the happy cat" is a split nominative.
No sane man cares about such things.http://chasemeladies.blogspot.com/2004/10/no-sane-man-cares-about-such-things.html
posted by Rob @ 9:46:00 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
As Winston Churchill once said to a woman who had accused him of ending a sentence with a preposition: "That is an accusation up with which I will not put."
hey, what about "spelling Nazis"? i’m pretty sure you appreciate them as well (or is it "as good"?).
i do agree with you as to the awkwardness that some rules create just for the sake of "correctness". especially in everyday conversations -- who talks like that??
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