Re: Debian GNU userland for SunOS
Chad Miller <cmiller+debian-policy@optilinkcomm.net> writes:
> BTW, in The Debian Free Software Guidelines, part 4, there's a split
> infinitive in the parenthesied part.
Nothing wrong with a split infinitive unless it's awkward (which they
frequently are). In this case, I think either way is fine.
/me once again recommends reading the book _Mrs. Thistlebottom's
Hobgoblins_ before getting too pedantic about English grammar. There
are several widespread "rules" -- like this one -- that were never
really rules at all.
Remember, English is a Free Language. Grammar is descriptive, not
prescriptive. This means that "experts" in English grammar must be
judged on how well they describe what actually gets used, not on how
authoritative and pompous they can sound, or on how many quotes they
can provide from other, earlier "experts".
This means that some "rules" are matters of heated debate (like using
"they" as a singular, gender-neutral pronoun). But split infinitives
are considered acceptable by most modern grammarians these days.
cheers
--
Chris Waters xtifr@dsp.net | I have a truly elegant proof of the
or xtifr@debian.org | above, but it is too long to fit into
http://www.dsp.net/xtifr | this .signature file.
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