...our sensibilities.

I am not Conan the Unsplitter of Split Infinitives, the Terminator of Terminal Prepositions. The injunctions against cleft infinitives and terminal prepositions are completely bogus. Such proclamations exist as sheer rumor and gossip. They are never enshrined in reputable usage manuals.

I own a Ph.D. in linguistics, the scientific study of language, so I'm supposed to see language change as neither good nor bad but natural evolution. I am aware that English is a living language. Like a tree, language sheds its leaves and grows new ones so that it may live on. But to recognize the reality of and the need for change does not mean that we must accept the mindless permissiveness that pervades the use of English in our society.

I consider myself to be a compassionate pre-scriptivist. I understand that just as one never steps into the same river twice, one cannot step into the same language twice. Even as one enters, words are swept downstream into the past, forever making a different river. But--and please allow me to...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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