Wednesday Words: Let's Kick Those Stubborn Old Myths in the Ass!

So I was having an LI conversation with Phil Samuels today because he asked what my thoughts were about an article he'd read.

Well, yes, I replied; I totally support it! And then I remembered I'd written about that very issue in a post about old "rules" that never were real a few years ago.

Thank you, Phil Samuels, for reminding me!

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With apologies to those who are stricter grammarians than I am: Today we’re going to get rid of some stubborn-like-a-donkey old “rules” once and for all.

1. Never use a preposition to end a sentence with.

This one’s been around for a long time, and it needs to be given the boot. It appears to come from early grammarians’ attempts to force English to follow the rules of Latin, which it doesn’t. This “rule” is unsupported by most modern grammarians, because blindly following it can lead to some very awkward sentences.

The most famous quote on this topic is often attributed to Sir Winston Churchill, although there's no actual proof:

"This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put.

There are endless versions of the quote, but the point is that it may have been seen as proper grammar at that time, but it was a terribly clunky way to communicate even then. If we're trying to get our ideas across in an understandable way, we can't allow a rule that never was to get in the way!

2. Remember to never split an infinitive.

The infinitive is the verb form preceded by to – to eat, to read, to learn. Splitting the infinitive means putting a word in between to and the other part of the verb – to hungrily eat, to quickly read, to thoroughly learn.

This issue also comes from Latin where splitting the infinitive is impossible because infinitives in Latin are just one word. That type of infinitive is still found in other Romance languages whose root is Latin such as French and Spanish.

But English is different. Our infinitives are two words, so “splitting” them is possible. And sometimes the emphasis changes when we split an infinitive; if that’s true in one of your sentences, relax. If it sounds better, do it.

Do you recognize this one? To boldly go where no one has gone before. Sure you do. But how much energy would be lost by following the split infinitive “rule”?

To go boldly where no one has gone before. 

Boldly to go where no one has gone before.

Nope. They just don’t work! The rhythm changes, and it’s not as strong a statement.

3.  And don’t begin sentences with a conjunction.

Conjunctions are joining words, usually connecting words, phrases, and clauses. However, they can connect separate sentences. While strict grammarians might not agree, sometimes a long sentence that uses a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) to connect the independent clauses sounds better when separated into two shorter sentences. Shorter sentences are usually easier to read and understand. 

Beginning a sentence with a conjunction is acceptable to most modern writers. Just don't do it with every sentence!

Isn’t American grammar fun? And if you’d like to learn four more old grammar rules that you can stop worrying about, click here.

What other old rules do you remember from your early days? What old rules do you still follow? What have you stopped worrying about?

#Wednesday Words #Vocabulary #English #American grammar