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17062. Macnas - 10/19/2005 9:56:58 AM Hello Mago!
You don't see those fellows very often! They're a unit of the cavalry corps, who usually provide escort to the President and visiting brass. They're called the Blue Hussars. 17063. Magoseph - 10/19/2005 11:50:13 AM Now it turns out that a Supreme Court nominee doesn't even need to always be a lawyer in good standing.
Would this sentence be less or more pungent if Maureen had avoided the split infinitive? 17064. Magoseph - 10/19/2005 11:50:54 AM Grammar Gurus, please answer. 17065. wonkers2 - 10/19/2005 1:41:25 PM IMO, it would be better if she had omitted "always." The split infinitive is awkward also, but I believe acceptable in current usage. How about it, Arky? 17066. PelleNilsson - 10/19/2005 1:50:32 PM I second wonkers. The 'always' is implicit. A bit of sloppy writing against a deadline, I suppose. 17067. Macnas - 10/19/2005 1:54:34 PM Yep, awkward. 17068. Magoseph - 10/19/2005 9:21:44 PM Ok, thank you, you all about Maureen's phrasing, but I still want Arky's input on this.
Ali, Spanish is very easy to learn--the pronunciation especially. 17069. wonkers2 - 10/19/2005 11:12:38 PM When you can pronounce the double and single r's in this one like a Spaniard you'r pretty good:
r con r cigarro,
r con r barril
cuatro carros cargados de ruedas
en el ferrocarril. 17070. arkymalarky - 10/20/2005 12:25:43 AM I agree it's awkward and not because of the split infinitive, but my opinion's no more or less informed than most here.
I've told this before, but my dad's a prof emeritus who taught college English for many years. He sent some sort of memo with a phrase something along the line of "...to better prepare students...." to the local high school English dept, whose chair curtly included in her reply that she didn't split infinitives. I'm sure she was smugly satisfied with herself for correcting a college professor's grammar, never realizing 1) how petty and unprofessional she looked or 2) that she, in not bothering to keep up with changes in acceptable grammar, looked very out of touch--all in all, the opposite of the effect she evidently assumed she had achieved. 17071. Magoseph - 10/20/2005 10:08:11 AM Split infinitives
For the hyper-critical, “to boldly go where no man has gone before” should be “to go boldly. . . .” It is good to be aware that inserting one or more words between “to” and a verb is not strictly speaking an error, and is often more expressive and graceful than moving the intervening words elsewhere.
One of my grammar guru in this excerpt above agrees with you, Arky.
Hello, Mac. 17072. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 10:23:24 AM yes Wonk, the Rs are the only sticking point for the pronunciation. I am incapable of rolling them. God, it's taken me twenty years to get the French R roughly right.
Luckily I have a good tutor... my girlfriend used to live in Chile... maybe I'll pick up the accent. 17073. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 10:28:41 AM Yes Mago, if I put my mind to it, I'm sure I can make rapid progress... if I have time. As soon as I get a bit of grammar into my head, I'll start laboriously deciphering newspapers, and watching Almodovar films.
I probably won't get much chance to practice in Madrid : English is the working language for the project. It's more that I don't want to be a complete foreigner. Also, it's high time I learned another language. 17074. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:19:30 AM Do you know, I am one of the few people who cannot roll the "r" sound.
And I don't mean bad at it or not doing it the right way, it's just physically impossible for me to do it.
17075. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:20:01 AM Well, me and alistair. 17076. Macnas - 10/20/2005 11:20:19 AM Hello Mago. 17077. thoughtful - 10/20/2005 3:22:41 PM Mac, can you curl your tongue? 17078. Macnas - 10/20/2005 3:36:12 PM Trust me thoughtful, I cannot roll the "r" sound. 17079. wonkers2 - 10/20/2005 4:20:45 PM Cap'n Dirty sez, "Alistair, all you need is two phrases: "Otra cerveza, por favor." and "Tu cuarto o mio?" 17080. Macnas - 10/20/2005 4:32:02 PM I know cerveza is beer, I reckon I can guess the other. 17081. alistairconnor - 10/20/2005 4:36:29 PM well, Cap'n... my language tutor worked out that the Spanish wasn't actually necessary for my work... now she wants to come with me to Madrid!
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