[Daffynition]

Can you spot the split infinitive?

[Oztrich Boy]

He remarked that in some languages two negatives make a positive, but in no language do two positives make a negative.

Yeah, Right < /s>

[Silentgypsy]

At last, a constructive outlet for my hostilities and frustrations: I can split infinitives! Thx for the idea.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

As someone with a side business of editing/proofreading, I will say one thing in defense of these rules. Many of them many not be formally “wrong,” and English writers often use them, and have for quite a long time. Nevertheless, adhering to these rules will help keep you from sounding like an uneducated dunderhead.

[JoeProBono]

[glorgau]

How to use a semicolon

[GreyFriar]

My Grammar was no myth, she was a mythuze.

[LearsFool]

Like a violin, language in the hands of a master is both beautiful and enriching. Though he broke “the rules” from time to time, Winston Churchill is a joy to read.

Today’s TwitSpeak, by contrast, is like the scratching and scraping of a lazy and undisciplined violin student. It doesn’t matter if he IS trying to play a Bach sonata; I won’t waste my time trying to understand him.

YMMV

[Dr. Sivana]

As a proponent of standard English, I was concerned about the subject matter. Since one of the main authorities in support of the author’s positions is the great Fowler, I relaxed. Unfortunately, dear Mrs. Skubby from 3rd grade is certainly dead by now, so I can’t rebuke her for telling her class not to begin sentences with conjunctions.

[Army Air Corps]

Nice parchment.

[240B]

My thing is pronunciation.

Today, almost any word beginning with a vowel is morphing to ‘uh’ in common usage. This is very prevalent in all new-casts and other public sources.

immediately = uhmediately
emotional = uhmotional
et al...

Of course, the old standbys are
specifically = pacifically
experiment = exspearmint

I only point these cases out because they span dialect. It is not a southern vs. northern vs. California, thing. It is becoming an accepted part of the English language nationwide. You can even hear irregardless in some news-casts and it even passes most spell checkers. lol

[freedom1st]

I think the split infinitive is a little lower.

[metesky]

Richard Mitchell, The Underground Grammarian

[TheMom]

For later.

[fortheDeclaration]

Bump

[SunkenCiv]

As Long John Nebel once wrote, I know I’m not supposed to end sentences with a preposition — but I will continue to.

[paulycy]

Smart people make less grammar mistakes.