Tailey, Twirley, Loopey
- May 9, 2012 | 12:00 am
The Language Wars: A History of Proper English
by Henry Hitchings
"Fowler categorized people as brilliantly as he categorized words. On the vexed subject of whether it is ever excusable to split an infinitive, he gave the definitive, exhaustive answer:
The English-speaking world may be divided into (1) those who neither know nor care what a split infinitive is; (2) those who do not know, but care very much; (3) those who know & condemn; (4) those who know & approve; & (5) those who know & distinguish.
If we are going to make judgements about people based on the way they use language, then they should be as rigorous as this."
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