In my professional opinion...

[Fnaar]

Clarity in thought and expression are not outmoded, neither is precision.

No, I agree with you. But grammar rules that describe the way grammar worked in a different language (latin) , then applied to English 100+ years ago, do not necessarily still hold true today.

 

[Moon bunny]

The only reason it is "wrong" to split an infinitive is because it is impossible to easily do so in Latin.

 

[Fnaar]

The only reason it is "wrong" to split an infinitive is because it is impossible to easily do so in Latin.

I'm liking what you did there. Liking what you did there am I.

 

[hoopdriver]

The only reason it is "wrong" to split an infinitive is because it is impossible to easily do so in Latin.

It is still sloppy expression. That said, there are expressions in the English language where a split infinitive is unavoidable- 'to more than double' being one that immediately pops to mind.

 

[hoopdriver]

No, I agree with you. But grammar rules that describe the way grammar worked in a different language (latin) , then applied to English 100+ years ago, do not necessarily still hold true today.

Why?

And was not just 100 years ago. I am nowhere near 100, being only just over halfway there, and I was most certainly taught grammar. As was everybody else in my generation and some few years afterwards. It was relevant than and it remains so, despite the justifications thrown up by sloppy educators, most of whom never caught on when it was being taught to them and later decided, of their own accord, that it was all irrelevant.

 

[Fnaar]

Why?

And was not just 100 years ago. I am nowhere near 100, being only just over halfway there, and I was most certainly taught grammar. As was everybody else in my generation and some few years afterwards. It was relevant than and it remains so, despite the justifications thrown up by sloppy educators, most of whom never caught on when it was being taught to them and later decided, of their own accord, that it was all irrelevant.

I'm about the same age as you. I meant that it was in the Victorian era when educators tried to apply Latin grammar rules to English. Some of them simply don't work. I know grammar very well (I have been teaching it for nearly 30 years) and I have a healthy respect for what it is, and what it isn't.

 

[Lance Jack]

"Grid to mag add, mag to grid get rid" This term is derived from the term used in Map and Compass for finding the GMA. Or, you just use your GPS.

 

[ufkacbln]

He who laughs last ... had a backup disc

 

[Haitch]

I am firmly with William Safire on the examples in that article you quote.

To me, they sound like the irresistible force of a quart of English being crammed into the immovable object of a pint pot of Latin.

 

[ThinAir]

To quote a certain Mr. Twain;

"It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt".

Fewer, truer words have ever been spoken

 

[hoopdriver]

To me, they sound like the irresistible force of a quart of English being crammed into the immovable object of a pint pot of Latin.

I have never heard that sound and so can't comment on your comparison.

 

[colly]

There are two sides to every argument.

Yours is wrong.

 

[colly]

It is better to ask the question and appear ignorant for a moment, than to not ask the question and be ignorant forever.

 

[djmc]

Fred's swimming is coming on well. Swimming is a gerund.
Fred swimming is a sight to be seen. Swimming is a present participle qualifying Fred. This is correct. The difference between gerunds and present participles is not entirely obvious except to those who have learned Latin. On the other hand a lot of traditional grammar was invented to describe Latin or Greek rather than English.

 

[colly]

Fred's swimming is coming on well. Swimming is a gerund.
Fred swimming is a sight to be seen. Swimming is a present participle qualifying Fred. This is correct. The difference between gerunds and present participles is not entirely obvious except to those who have learned Latin. On the other hand a lot of traditional grammar was invented to describe Latin or Greek rather than English.

Maybe, but it sounds like Greek to me.