Learn the rules and then forget them

When it came to the notorious split infinitive (e.g., “to boldly go where no man . . .”), [Fowler] observed that those English speakers who neither know nor care about them “are to be envied” by the unhappy few who do.

- H. W. Fowler, the King of English

Certainly, any grammatical advice that goes up against Star Trek deserves what it gets. Somehow Fowler understood that, decades before anyone met Captain Pike, never mind Kirk.

One thought on “Learn the rules and then forget them

  1. Not to even touch the fact that that proscription is not reflective of actual English as she is spoke–so it’s not even a real rule, but merely a grammarian’s hobby horse.

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