(Okay, the title of this thread is an atrocious sentence; bad example)
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/11/grammar-myths-prepositions/Quote
Stranded prepositions are nothing to fret about
There are numerous myths relating to grammatical dos and don'ts, many of which were drummed into us at school. The one that stubbornly refuses to budge from my mind is the diktat 'never begin a sentence with a conjunction such as and or but'. And why not, pray?*
Some of these groundless rules (termed 'fetishes' by Henry Fowler in 1926) have a long history. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, some notable writers (aka Latin-obsessed 17th century introverts) tried to make English grammar conform to that of Latin – hence the veto on split infinitives and also the ruling against the ending of a sentence with a preposition (also called stranding or deferring a preposition).
These and other language myths are amazingly persistent, though, so who you gonna call? Oxford's Myth Debunkers, of course! To kick off this occasional series, let's try to zap the one about stranded prepositions and lay it to rest once and for all.
Basically, this "rule" about prepositions was invented by a bunch of twerps who were more interested in fighting over who had the biggest Latin-penis than in effective communication.
nice! now i've got something other than "it's stupid" to throw at people who bandy that rule about.
Oh, neat!
Quote from: Cainad on December 14, 2012, 06:39:53 PM
(Okay, the title of this thread is an atrocious sentence; bad example)
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2011/11/grammar-myths-prepositions/
Quote
Stranded prepositions are nothing to fret about
There are numerous myths relating to grammatical dos and don'ts, many of which were drummed into us at school. The one that stubbornly refuses to budge from my mind is the diktat 'never begin a sentence with a conjunction such as and or but'. And why not, pray?*
Some of these groundless rules (termed 'fetishes' by Henry Fowler in 1926) have a long history. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, some notable writers (aka Latin-obsessed 17th century introverts) tried to make English grammar conform to that of Latin – hence the veto on split infinitives and also the ruling against the ending of a sentence with a preposition (also called stranding or deferring a preposition).
These and other language myths are amazingly persistent, though, so who you gonna call? Oxford's Myth Debunkers, of course! To kick off this occasional series, let's try to zap the one about stranded prepositions and lay it to rest once and for all.
Basically, this "rule" about prepositions was invented by a bunch of twerps who were more interested in fighting over who had the biggest Latin-penis than in effective communication.
I kind of figured as much. English is a very fluid language, as well as a bit of a melange, and a lot of the old rigid grammar rules don't function well with the path of evolution its taken; they sound stilted, forced and archaic.
Quote from: hølist on December 14, 2012, 11:25:42 PM
[snip] English is a very fluid language, as well as a bit of a melange, and a lot of the old rigid grammar rules don't function well with the path of evolution its taken; they sound stilted, forced and archaic.
e.g.
Fuck you and the horse in upon which you rodedamn, but I've been waiting forever for a thread that that sucker fits in